Looking Through the Glass
by WonderlandInvader
Summary: The Wonderland Warriors and I return to Underland after a strange occurrence at our Halloween gala and news of Alice's return...
1. Premonitions

_**Prologue –**_

_**Premonitions**_

The week before my first day of high school should've been a warning of what was to come four years down the road, but I didn't realize it at the time. To me it just seemed extremely odd and kind of scary, but I really should've known better…maybe it would've made my current situation a little easier.

I was having one of my dreams again, only a month and a half after my spat with Absolem about whether or not I was going to stay in Underland sooner than I had planned. The little insect somehow managed to get me back on somewhat civil speaking terms with him, though our conversations were often terse and snappy. We were examining the Oraculum one night, trying to determine the exact date of Alice's return, when I noticed him scribbling something on a separate sheet of parchment.

"What's that?" I peeked over his pudgy arm and instantly recognized my name, along with the other six Wonderland Warriors.

"Just a list of all the Overlanders that come and go down here... Mostly the seven of you, but there are a few more…" he continued writing without even an upwards glance, "You'll be meeting one of them in a few days, by the way…you'll be able to recognize her when you see her. She stands out from the crowd, if I do say so myself."

"_Poor Matt and Trevor…ANOTHER girl to add to the group of __**five**__ girls and __**two**__ guys._" I sighed inwardly, thinking of how unfairly outnumbered they were, "Is her '_sticking out from the crowd_' a _**good**_ thing?" I asked, only half-joking.

"Hmm…that'll depend on her mood that particular day."

"_**Fantabulous**_…." I muttered, crawling through a crack underneath the moving calendar and between two giant mushrooms, I popped up beside him to search for her name among ours;

_Allyson Maccay_

_ Matt Sam_

_ Trevor Amber_

_ Lucy Tony_

_ C'Lee Luke_

_ Mayo _

"Well, her name must be Amber…it's obviously _**not**_ Tony or Luke. None of us know anyone named Tony…there's a Luke in two of my classes next year, so that's probably who that is… We're already looking at this guy named Sam, and he fits in _WAY_ too well with our bunch to be anything _**but**_ what we are." I rolled back onto my heels, examining his scrawling handwriting. The Butterfly had clearly never taken any penmanship classes when he was training to become a guardian for the Oraculum, if he actually took any classes for that…

"I see… Have you figured out what he can do in your music band yet?"

"Nah, we're still trying to find somewhere to put him. He doesn't play any instruments, and computers freak out whenever he touches them…and he is definitely _**NOT**_ driving the bus in the future." I shuddered at the thought of the die-hard Grand Theft Auto fan behind the wheel of the Warrior bus. No thanks, I'd like to live to my next birthday if you please.

"Is there anything else for him to do?" Absolem took a puff from his hookah, wisely blowing the blue smoke off to the side rather than in my direction.

"Nothing I can think of off the top of my head. You have any suggestions?"

The Butterfly pondered this for a moment, exhaling more filmy smoke. He shook his round head, "Not at the moment…maybe you should get to know him better, learn his talents and such…You'll find something for him eventually…"

I shrugged, propping myself up with my elbows and laying on my tummy, "We really don't need any more instruments or anything…I'm sure Trevor could use some help with something that won't get one or both of them electrocuted, or shut down half of Atlanta. Or both."

Just as I mentioned his name, the letters on the parchment began to shimmer and Trevor's name started to seep back into the paper… and soon disappeared altogether.

We both creased our eyebrows in confusion; neither of us had ever seen writing vanish into thin air, even in Underland that was something that normally just didn't happen. He picked up his pen and rewrote the name in the exact spot where it had been, but no matter how many times he did this, the ink would dissolve into nothing and leave the page blank. No one else's names were doing this; they all appeared to be normal. I scanned over all eleven names over and over again, hoping and praying that this was some kind of prank or something. Maybe his ink had gone bad or the paper was just being weird.

Now I was starting to get nervous, "Uh…Absolem? Why are Sam, Tony, _**and**_ Amber's names leaking off too?!"

His eyes grew wider than mine when he saw their names trickling down the side of the page and onto the mushroom, leaving small black puddles. There was no mistaking the horror that was slowly washing over the Butterfly's features, "Something…something is terribly wrong…"

No sooner had he uttered these words than I started to genuinely freak out; Lucy's name swirled into a little inky vortex, seeming to collapse on itself before fading away. Her twin's name stayed put, not budging an inch. Normally, the two of them doing the opposite of each other was expected, but in this case it was a chilling omen.

"What does this mean? Absolem _**what **_is going on? "Now we were both in full panic mode. My whole body was trembling and my hands started to get clammy and cold. His eyes kept darting into the surrounding smoke, as if he was watching for something to jump out and attack us.

"I don't know…I really don't know…" the Oraculum rolled up on its own and he grabbed it, safely storing the scroll away in a cranny between some mushrooms, "All that is certain is that it's not safe here. You need to warn the others about this." He began to retreat into the blue haze, his wings swirling the smoke and obscuring my vision.

The dream was starting to unravel, propelling me back into my own world, "_**Absolem**_! Absolem _wait_! Warn them about _**what**_!? "I reached out to grab onto him, but my hand slammed into an invisible wall. Darkness slowly crept into my sight, blacking out the image of the Mushroom Forest and replacing it with my room bathed in the rising sunlight.

I awoke with a violent start and a sharp gasp. Every sheet and blanket on my bed was piled in the floor, all tangled together. My phone nearly clattered to the floor as my hand swept over the nightstand in search of it, but I caught it just in time. I pressed the End Call button to check what time it was and discovered text messages from each of the other band members, two missed calls from Trevor, three from both Lucy and C'Lee, and seven from Mayo.

"_I don't guess I need to warn them after all._" I muttered, opening the first of the voicemails and hearing the match to my own terror in my friend's voice.

Needless to say, we called an emergency meeting directly after lunch that day. Everyone was visibly shaken by what they had seen with their own eyes… Not all of us had been "in" Underland when it happened, but we all shared a gut feeling that something awful was going down without our knowing it.

Trevor and Lucy (_whose names had been mysteriously erased right in front of me_) dreamt the same exact thing; there were mirrors all around them, but instead of them being the normal shiny silver color, the glass was a jet black and rippling like a pool of ink and a pair of red eyes stared from the murky depths. When they attempted to touch the unusual looking-glasses, however, the reflective material shattered into millions of tiny shards that in turn shattered all the other mirrors around them, and then the broken pieces faded from black as night to the glimmering silver of the stars.

Maccay's dream was pretty freaky too; she said that all of us were standing with our backs to her in the former Red Queen's throne room, and when she called out to us we all turned very slowly to face her, revealing monstrously blood red eyes and razor sharp teeth. Just before she could flee the horrible sight, she heard the kind of tinkling music that comes from old wind-up toys and jewelry boxes, and the haunting laughter of a young girl echoing in the halls.

Worst of all were C'Lee, Matt, and Mayo's dreams, as they gave form to one of our group's collective biggest fears…they couldn't even get into Underland. Oh sure, they could see their usual hangouts, their good friends and counterparts beckoning them desperately, as if they were in some sort of danger, but they couldn't reach them. It was as if they were at the end of a long, dark tunnel, and no matter how much they crawled, jumped, sprinted, clawed, or scrambled for the end of it, they never could make it.

Mayo's dramatic reaction wasn't much of a surprise, but the fact that the dream scared C'Lee so badly that she woke up crying scared me more than my own nightmare... She was never one to get overly emotional about anything, much less just some ol' dream. Matt was still shaking from the trauma, which heightened my distress even more.

My nightmare only escalated the pandemonium, if it could be escalated, confirming via the Oraculum that something was indeed brewing that was out of even the Oracle's control. We assumed that if Absolem couldn't fix it, or didn't know anything about it, that it could only spell disaster…which was usually the case, since he's the only omniscient being we know of down there.

"So…there's _**nothing**_ we can do?" Maccay asked in dismay.

I shook my head, "We don't know what's going on, and apparently no one else does either. Nobody but me was where they normally are, and I didn't get told anything despite that fact. Absolem' s not one to always be straightforward, but if he knew what kind of danger we may be facing, or if he knew that we were in danger, he'd tell me that at least." Or at least I _**hope **_he would. He doesn't seem like the type that would hide information that would determine the outcome of a life or death situation, but then again, this _**is**_ the same bug that never bothered to tell me '_Oh, by the way, you're gonna actually come down the Rabbit Hole, fight the freaking JABBERWOCKY and rescue the Knave of Hearts from this insane asylum-escapee of a Queen Iracebeth!_'

That's when it hit me…what if we can _**never**_ get back down there? What if the Underlanders were in peril and we couldn't help them? My heart lurched at the thought of all of our friends fighting for their lives, and us being unable to come to their aid…they depended on us for backup in the direst of straits. What would happen if we couldn't be there for them?

Would they think we'd all _**abandoned**_ them? That we'd _**all**_ opted to stay in Overland forever? That we'd _**forgotten**_ all about them?

"There must be some way that we can find out what's happening and why we all had those _**crazy**_ dreams." Matt uncrossed his arms and twiddled his fingers, pondering a way to contact somebody in Underland.

"If the Looking-Glass portals were open we could go through them, but someone in Underland would have to open it from there. But if they can't talk to us through our dreams anymore, who's to say that those portals will work? And just to clear things up a little more, I am _**not**_ falling down another Rabbit Hole!" although the adventure after my tumble was rather interesting, the plummet itself was far from pleasant. Trevor looked away when I shot him a pointed glance, remembering that it was _his_ buttered fingers that dropped me down it in the first place.

He was just muttering something that sounded like "Sorry…" when a tapping sound came from the bathroom, like someone drumming their fingers on a TV. screen. All seven of us cast puzzled stares at the door, which was slightly ajar, "Did you hear that?"

"Y-yeah…what was it?" Lucy peeked around her sister.

Seeing as how it was my own bathroom that had been invaded by the unseen intruder, it was, of course, my obligation to go in first to investigate. I cracked the door open just enough to stick my hand through the gap and flip on the light switch, dispelling all the shadowy hiding places. Based on just a cursory scan of the room, I assumed that there wasn't anyone or anything out of place in there.

However, I was also under the assumption that whatever was knocking was on _**our**_ side of my huge, ornate mirror, not the _**other**_ side. Just as I turned to walk back out, I saw a figure out the corner of my eye, and was extremely startled to find the Knight of Hearts looking back at me.

"Aack! _**Stayne**_!? What the-" I yelped in surprise, "How'd you get in my mirror!?"

He chuckled as the other band members swarmed around me to get a better look at who or what I'd screamed at, "_Glad to see you too. Absolem partially opened the portal between Marmoreal and your house so I could talk to you; we wanted to check and see that you were ok after what happened last night._"

"We're all fine, just a little worried…is everything alright down there?"

"_As far as I know. We still haven't figured out what happened with the Oraculum, or anything else for that matter. Nothing else has gone pear-shaped since you all got sent home, but that doesn't mean that nothing is wrong._"

"I know…you don't think this is going to affect Alice coming back, do you?" I hadn't even thought about her until now. She had sworn that she'd return someday, and I know at least one person who'd be a mad, miserable wreck if she broke that promise.

He shrugged, "_Hopefully not. I don't think Tarrant can go much longer without her._"

Mayo piped up from behind me, "Is he alright!? He's ok isn't he?" Her insanely green eyes were as wide as a couple of dinner plates and she had a death-grip on my shoulder.

"_He's fine, just lovesick is all. I swear if he doesn't quit moping around, people are gonna start calling him the SAD Hatter_..."

"Now Ilosovic…" I chided him, "be nice." He knew I was kidding, so he just rolled his eye and snickered. If I hadn't known him like I did, I'd have said something about him missing the girl he loved, but I knew that was an off-limits subject.

"_Yeah, yeah, like __**you**__ have room to talk._" He shot back, "_Anyway, I've got to go, Mirana wants me to ride to the other three kingdoms and see if they know what the deal is. It's going to take me forever to get there and back, so I have to leave in the morning…but I'll try and keep you posted as much as I can._" He paused before finishing, "_Just be careful 'til we get this sorted out, alright?"_

I nodded, "You too. I didn't save your patoot just for you to go and get it in trouble again." I chuckled with a smirk.

He sighed and shook his head jokingly, "_Whateeever you say Allyson, whateeever you say…But seriously, do be careful._"

"Eh, don't worry about me. It's perfectly safe up here… Nothing from Underland has ever bugged me at home before, so I doubt there's anything to worry about."

"_Don't be too sure. I'm not trying to worry you or anything, but if we can get up here, then so can others. And there are some Underlanders that would be willing to travel to your world just to stir up trouble. Keep an eye out for anything else suspicious…_" and with that, he faded away into the glass, leaving no sign that he was ever even there.

The seven of us stood silently for a moment, exchanging worried glances between each other and our reflections. We each hoped and prayed that this would all blow over soon, but in reality, this incident would be only the first of many.

This was the beginning of something beyond our darkest nightmares…


	2. Hello to Goodbye

_**Chapter One –**_

_**Hello to Goodbye**_

Somehow, even though it's billions and billions of miles away, the freaking Sun always manages to hit me square in the eyes _every_…_single_…_morning_. Rolling over does nothing, since I have enormous windows on either side of the bed, and the curtains aren't thick enough to block out the light, so I'm forced to roll out of the warmth and into the cold October day…

Halloween day, to be precise.

At least I have something to look forward to after my rude awakening by Mother Nature…this evening, the rest of the band and I are hosting a huge All Hallows Eve concert party at my mom's house, and we invited most of our senior classmates at the high school. Costumes, of course, are mandatory, so needless to say Amber and I have been slaving over ours for weeks ahead of time to make sure that they come out perfectly epic.

Just as they do any other time they have to wear something other than t-shirts and jeans, Trevor, Sam, Luke, and Matt have been protesting since we started working on theirs that they would rather be chased by a rabid dog than have to walk around dressed up all night. Tony doesn't particularly mind though.

I replied that I could easily have that arranged after the concert, without even looking up from my sketchpad. They grumbled aloud no more, for they knew that Roxi got awfully excited when she saw anybody from the Wonderland Warriors in the house, and she's a considerably large dog that's awfully fond of licking people's faces.

After stretching all the stiffness out of my arms, I finally rolled off the mattress and padded over to my speakers, turning my MP3 player to "_Funhouse_" by P!nk and cranking the volume up as loud as it can go.

Dancing along to the beat, I skidded down the hallway and into the bathroom in

my socks à la Tom Cruise in "Risky Business". Though I not-so-gracefully smacked into the doorjamb, Roxi was the only one around to notice, so I brushed it off while attempting to brush the knots out of my almost waist-length hair.

None of the other Warriors were expected to show up at my place until 3o'clock, so the ringing of our doorbell startled me to the point of almost dropping the tooth brush that was now in my hand. Knowing I was probably the only one awake, even though it was well past 11:00, I trotted down our staircase and into the foyer, opening the door only to be surprised by Trevor standing on my front steps. We had broken up in our freshman year, after we realized that we just weren't meant to be…so now we're more like brother and sister. Granted a really _awkward_ brother and sister…but I digress.

He looked a little angry, "Hey, mind if I come in?" he huffed.

"Sure, what's the matter?"

"It's nothing. Mom's just driving me crazy. I need to get out of the house for a while."

Cary, who was basically my second mother, wasn't normally one to drive someone crazy, not even her three actual kids. She never really harped on anything for long, and she never fussed over any of us unless it was something super important, "What do you mean? Did something happen? " I tried to put my hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged me off.

"I'll explain later. I just wanna stay here for a little while…" his smile was more like a grimace, "before everybody else gets here and it gets crazy."

Still not convinced that everything was alright, I led him upstairs and told him to wait in my drawing room while I finished getting ready. He lingered in the hallway for a few minutes, looking at framed pictures of the band all over the wall, but eventually went in and sat at my desk in the corner next to the closet.

I finished pulling my hair back, applied a generous helping of my cleansing facial scrub, and changed into some shorts and red a tank top that went under my costume. When I opened the door, Roxi was laying at Trevor's side, her paws sticking straight up in the air, begging for some attention. He scratched her belly for a few minutes until he realized I was there.

"Now, are you gonna tell me what's going on?" I sat on my drawing bench in front of him.

He shook his head, "No, not yet. I want everybody to be here so I only have to repeat it twenty times instead of forty." he replied.

"Ugh… tease." I stuck my tongue out at him, "Did you even bother to bring your costume, by the way?"

He shot me a fake glare, "Yeah, it's in the backseat. I knew you'd kill me if I didn't have it." he sighed. He did have a point…I have been known to fly off the handle if somebody forgets something right before a concert (_or anything else_) even though I'm one of the most forgetful out of all eleven of us.

"Good boy. I'm gonna take a shot in the dark and say you don't want to get ready just yet, huh? "

"Bull's-eye."

"Haha, very funny…" I ran into the closet to fish mine out of the back and hunt for my boots.

After we'd scrounged up something for lunch and watched a few episodes of the _"Beetlejuice"_ cartoon, the others began arriving to get ready for the party.

Maccay had carpooled with Mayo and our other friend, Sam, who had joined us about three years ago. Looking back now, the way he got into the band is actually kinda funny, but I didn't think so at the time…

It was 7am on a Saturday morning, and I was dead asleep after staying up all night for a Harry Potter marathon. From what I remember, I was in the middle of a dream where Professor Snape had come back from the dead and was turning Lord Voldemort's pet snake into a rather fashionable handbag and pair of boots when my phone suddenly started blaring a heavy metal ringtone. Reluctantly awakening from the avenging of my favorite character, I answered the phone in a zombie-like state, "Sam…somebody better either be dead, dying or coming back from the dead…which and who is it?"

"_Um…none of the above…but I want to show you something!_"

"Do you really think _NOW_ is the best time to show me something? Do you have any idea what time it is man? " I grumbled, rubbing sleep from my eyes.

"_But it's really important! I figured out what I can do for the band since I can't play any instruments and technology hates me! __**Please**__!? _"

I groaned with as much disdain as I could muster before sunrise, "_**Fine**_…this had better be worth my time, or you're gonna get a rude awakening tomorrow morning." untangling myself from the sheets where I had thrashed around in an epic battle between me and the Dark Lord himself, "How long is it gonna take for you to get here?"

"_I'm already outside. I've been trying to call you since 6:30, but you didn't answer…_"

"Gee…I wonder _**why**_?! Urgh…I'll be outside in a second, let me get dressed."

_Click_.

I pulled on a housecoat over my pajamas and slipped on my bedroom shoes, and barely managed to get the brush through the bird nest on top of my head before a text message came through from his phone, warning me not to do anything to my mop of thick hair. Obeying the message, I snuck downstairs and out the front door to find him standing in the middle of our driveway, clutching a huge black duffle bag.

My eyebrows immediately went up, "Uh…are you gonna be the band's illegal contraband dealer? What's with the bag? "

He motioned toward the bus, "Come in here with me, I have to show you 'cause you won't believe me if I just tell you!"

Rather apprehensively, I followed him into the vessel for our country-wide tours and other long trips. Sam threw the bag onto the seat in the kitchen area and pulled up a stool, patting the seat and calling me forward. Eyeing him suspiciously, I took the seat and turned with my back to him.

"What is it exactly that you're going to do to me Sam?"

"Just hold still. I've been practicing this all week with a friend of mine." he attempted to reassure me, "She's a real expert on this stuff." The duffle bag unzipped behind me, and I heard the distinct clattering of various hair care products as he dug around inside, "Samuel Harned, I'd suggest you drop the scissors, 'cause that ain't happening today buddy. It's taken me since 3rd grade to get it this long." I growled, holding my hand out until he relinquished the pair of clippers.

I don't have any clue how long we were in there, or what it was that he did, but I walked off that bus with my hair fit for a visit with royalty! My chin-length bangs were teased, so that they stood well out of my eyes but still maintained the little flip at the ends. The rest of my hair was piled on top of my head in intricate braids that swirled around each other. There were surprisingly no fly-aways; each strand stayed perfectly in place, no matter how much I shook my head in disbelief.

"Sooo…what do ya think?" he asked eagerly.

"It's…amazing!" I was almost afraid to touch it for fear that the plait would instantly unravel, but it remained even as I tugged at the strands, noticing the absence of hair spray or even a hair bow! Normally, it would take bottles and bottles of spray and fifty million Bobby Pins, but somehow Sam managed to get the style to stay in without anything to hold it. It was a miracle!

"Does that mean I get to be the official hairdresser?"

"Pssht! Heck yeah! Anybody that can tame this mess with something short of a magic wand gets the job automatically." I was unable to return to bed for the rest of the day, not wanting to lie on my hair and risk undoing it. Sam's been handling our troublesome tresses ever since.

C'Lee and Lucy were the next to arrive together, though they were in separate cars. Over the past few years, the two of them had become much more distinct, especially in appearance. Lucy had let her hair grow out almost as long as mine, and put several colored strips in it here and there, while C'Lee opted to shorten hers into a pixie cut. C usually sported a pair of circular wire-rimmed glasses, and her sister stuck with contact lenses, for the most part. They even lived apart from each other (_though it was only by a few blocks_). The only thing that never really changed, however, was their almost identical taste in clothes, which kept them matching nine times out of ten, whether it was planned or not. That and they still never agreed on anything else.

Matt's black Mustang was the third vehicle to pull in, and I didn't even have to look out the window to tell who it was. The rumble of its engine was loud and sharp enough that I could quite literally _**hear**_ him coming from the very end of the driveway. He parked it a good distance from the other cars because _Heaven forbid_ the dust from somebody else's car should blow onto the shimmering wax job. I rolled my eyes as his alarm sounded, indicating that the doors were locked and the security system was armed, because it was highly likely that somebody was doing to come up my endless driveway _**specifically**_ to take his ride. _Oh_ _brother_…

Tony, our makeup artist and expert on all things fabulous about the facial area, made his grand entrance a few minutes later, lugging his enormous sack of cosmetics behind him. He had refused to allow any of us to do our own, even for this somewhat private concert, insisting that we must always look our very best…meaning that _**he**_ had to be in charge. No one had objected, for fear of being lectured about our lackluster technique and mediocre skills. He didn't mean anything personal by it, but Tony actually was a bit more experienced in this department than the rest of us, having helped his mom sell beauty products since he was seven.

His sister Amber, the group trouble maker and assistant costume designer, slunk out of the backseat of their lime green VW Beetle carrying both of their costumes in her slender arms. Her multicolored hair swished back and forth as she screamed some choice words at her sibling for his mistaken belief that she was a pack mule. He said nothing in return, other than threatening to trip her when she came in the door if she didn't hush, which earned him an unbalanced kick in the shin as she strode by.

Ever since 9th grade, when I first met Tony and Amber in art class, these two had been fighting like cats and dogs nonstop. Not like Lucy and C'Lee's verbal battles, I mean in some cases it got physical very quickly. We've yet to decide who has the shorter temper, but it's a unanimous vote when it comes to who hits harder (_almost all of us have gotten caught in the crossfire once or twice_), in which case Amber takes the championship boxing belt. She's got a mean right hook! Not to mention her legs have all the force of a black belt in 4 different martial arts. Luckily for me, the class I took with her in second semester was a good indicator of what to expect from her, so it's not like we were surprised the first time she took a swing at her brother during rehearsals.

Their story with us began one peaceful January morning. We had been sitting quietly in first period, in Mr. McClain's drawing class specifically, and all of us were working on a piece that illustrated our "dream job". Mine was covered in calligraphic words and ink stains, with the tip of a feather quill on one side, because my dream job (_after the Warriors disband at least_) is to be a writer. I'd wanted to be an author since I was in 6th grade…and I did a little writing on the side when we started the band. Another aspiration of mine was to be a fashion designer, which apparently I shared with Amber. She had been sitting at the same table as me for the past week or so, after tiring of the ditzy girls at the one she was originally sitting at, and had stricken up a conversation with me about our pictures. Her sketches were eccentrically designed to the point of near impracticality and extremely "_colorful_" to put it mildly. The teacher and I both were intrigued by what she had classified as "just doodles", but Tony, who sat on the other side of me, was not impressed by her work.

"Nice sis, they look like a pack of Sharpies exploded on your paper." He rolled his eyes and kept penciling the outline of an eye and a pair of lips. His career choice was obviously in the makeup department.

Her icy blue eyes narrowed to slits, "At least it doesn't look like a five year old drew it." She retorted, mocking his almost flawless drawing.

Tony's comeback was swift, "A _**monkey**_ could draw better than you. But really there's not much of a difference in IQ _**or**_ hand-eye coordination."

"You're one to talk; at least my _**hair**_ isn't reminiscent of an _**orangutan**_."

"Yours looks more like somebody dumped flour and food coloring on your head."

That was when the first punch flew, missing me by only centimeters. Amber managed to sock Tony dead in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. The whole class was soon stunned into silence as the pair rolled around on the floor, locked in a battle to the bitter end…the bitter end being when McClain and about five other students pulled the two of them apart, and four of them escorted her to the office. From what I heard later that day, not only did she black Tony's eye and bust his lip, she bit one of the guys that took her to the principal, tried to head-butt two of them, scratched the fourth so badly that he was bleeding, and kicked and screamed the entire way up there.

Tony walked himself up to the office after the bell rang, and Amber had been literally dragged to detention. Since he had refused to take her bag to the detention room, I offered to bring it to her on my way to my Zoology class. When I arrived, she sheepishly apologized for me being caught in the middle of their little spat, and for him being "such a moron". I couldn't help but laugh a little, and it rather shocked her when I offered for the two of them to sit with the band at lunch (_after their punishment was up, of course_). Amber accepted the invitation, and swore that she and Tony would sit as far apart as they could, so as to prevent a repeat of their death match in the middle of a crowded cafeteria. Later that same day, I realized that they rode the same bus home as I did, and that Amber sat in the seat behind me. Normally, I would've been too engrossed in the music from my MP3 player to notice, but her snow white and rainbow tipped hair caught my eye almost immediately. She quickly abandoned her otherwise empty seat to join me and hasn't moved from that spot (_willingly_ _that is_) from that day forward.

Then, last but most definitely not least, the silver Taurus I'd been eagerly awaiting pulled in, and my boyfriend of three and a half years, Luke, stepped out with his costume slung over his shoulder. We met in our second semester of 9th grade during our English class, which was taught by his older sister, Jamie. Just like every other freshman Language Arts class in America, we were required to read Shakespeare's _Romeo & Juliet_ as part of our standards. I was originally cast as Tybalt, due to the lack of a male population in our class (_there were only five out of all twenty-three of us_) and Luke traded his role of Benvolio with Matt to be Romeo. How did this lead to us dating, you ask? To be quite truthful, I believe it was fate that our Juliet was absent on the day of the famous "balcony scene", and that my lucky number, seven, was the number that Jamie was thinking of when she was picking from the volunteers.

After being chosen to read the lines for that scene, some of our classmates helped set up the "stage" so we could actually act it out…well sort of anyway. All the lights were turned off except for a lamp that stood behind me; I sat on top of a desk in the back corner of the room, and he stood in front of the marker board. We had never really talked much before then, but we both read the lines like we'd known each other for years, and actually got a round of applause after we finished. As the bell rang, Maccay and the twins pointed out (_rather loudly, might I add_) that he was going to the same Health & Fitness class as us. He was walking with Matt to the gym, so I caught up with them and shyly greeted him with, "Hey Romeo." We went on our first date a month later, and we revealed our connections to Underland that same night, after we'd both returned home. Needless to say, I was much more surprised than him that someone as quiet and seemingly normal (_compared to what I was used to anyhow_) as he was could tolerate the inhabitants of the underground world. He told me he could see me fitting in with that bunch because I had a certain "quirkiness" to my personality…he thought it was cute though, so I didn't mind.

"You already dressed, honey? I thought it didn't start until six?" he pulled me to him as he walked in, and kissed me just before I could answer.

"Mmhmm…I just need to get my makeup and hair done. That always takes _**forever**_, so I figured I'd go ahead and get dressed to speed things along." I couldn't help the Cheshire grin spreading across my face; he just always made me smile whenever he was around.

He raised his eyebrow, "You know I think you don't _**need**_ all that makeup. And your hair looks just fine the way it is." He scolded me, brushing a loose strand away from my face.

I could feel my cheeks getting warm, "Yeah…It's just part of the costume, Lu."

"Alright. You gonna help Amber with everybody's outfits when you get done? "

"If she isn't already _**done**_ by then…which I doubt, since she's a perfectionist like I am."

Luke smiled playfully and whispered into my ear before heading off to start getting ready, _"If only everyone were as __**perfect**__ as you._"

Before I could form a protest, Tony grabbed hold of my arm and dragged me off to prepare for the party, "C'mon lovebird, there will be time for being googly-eyed later!"

"Alright, alright I'm comin'! Don't rush me!"

Three hours, eleven costumes, and pounds of makeup (_but next to no hairspray_) later, we were all finally dressed, just in time for the first guests to arrive. All the fake cobwebs, tombstones, and skeletons were in place, and the dry ice fog was rolling across the floor. Nox Arcana's haunting music thumped from the speakers in every corner, setting the tone for the evening. I watched the throng of partiers pour in the front door, all wearing different shades of the rainbow or dressed as different creatures of the night. The theme of the party was Masquerade, so everybody was required to wear some sort of mask with their costume; whether they were wearing a store bought ensemble, or they'd built their outfit from various sources. Amber and I had actually ordered all our masks blank, and we'd drawn the designs on them ourselves with fabric markers and paint.

I was the only one without an actual mask; my Wonderland denizen of choice required an eye patch rather than the traditional face covering. Stayne thought it was hilarious that I was dressed up like him for Halloween, but he failed to see the humor in my statement that it was the scariest one I could find. He argued that Absolem would've been more fear-instilling, but I reminded him that the Butterfly was only frightening if you needed a question answered flat out in a short amount of time. Needless to say I won that dispute.

By 6:45 all the guests had gotten here and were already chatting and dancing the night away. Our band's show wasn't for another fifteen minutes, but we were already prepping the "stage" for our performance. Well, the guys were anyway; the girls and I were sitting around the edge of it, dangling our feet off the side. There were too many wires and too much junk to trip over for us to do anything but "supervise" in our high heels and clunky boots. The crowd almost instantly noticed we were onstage, and some of them began chanting for the act to begin.

We managed to stall the riot until everything was plugged in properly and the microphone stopped screeching. Luke and Trevor trooped over to the portable sound booth and plugged their ears with their headsets, and the rest of us climbed up to our instruments.

Putting on my best Dracula voice, I grabbed the mic. and greeted the crowd, "Good evening goblins and ghouls…are you ready for some terrifying tunes and spooky songs?" Gah that sounded cheesy! A few chuckles rippled through the throng of partiers, but it was mostly drowned out by the applause and whistles, "Alright then…here's one of my personal favorites to start us off…the Marilyn Manson version of "_This is Halloween_" guys, page 3 in your sheet music if you need it." I added under my breath to the other performers.

Maccay and Mayo had just started shredding the beginning of the song on their guitars when the sound suddenly went dead as a graveyard. The speakers began crackling, the lights were flickering on and off, and everybody was freaking out.

"Uh…everybody just calm down! It's ok! There must be a storm or something coming this way…just a few technical difficulties! Nothing to worry about guys!" I tried to reassure them (_and myself_) that this would pass, but there was a feeling in the pit of my stomach that that was a horrible lie. Landing with a startling _thump_ on the floor, I jogged back to the sound booth, "What the _**Futterwacken**_ is going on back here?!"

Both boys shrugged hopelessly, "We don't have a clue honey, nothing will turn on. There's not any bad weather tonight either, so that's not what's doing this to the equipment." Luke fiddled around with various dials and buttons, but nothing happened. The static didn't go away, and the lights continued to sputter off and on, "You don't think there's a short in a wire or something do you? " he removed his headphones from around his neck and laid them on the board.

"A short in _**one**_ wire wouldn't do all of _**this**_, especially since the band stuff is hooked up _**separately**_ from the house's electricity. We decided to use that generator for the concert, remember? " Being the penny-pincher he is, my dad didn't want to run up the power bill by plugging in our band's equipment into the wall outlets, so he went out and bought a huge generator just for us, "It's brand new, so it wouldn't be messing up already…and we checked the amps' and instruments' cables _hours_ ago."

Trevor, who'd been unusually quiet since everyone else had arrived, spoke up, "Actually, I think I know what's happening…but I want the whole band to hear this together." He looked up at me from his rolling office chair, "Can you delay the concert for a bit, so I can explain?"

My stomach sank even further with just one look at the troubled expression on his face, and I nodded before climbing back onstage, "Ok guys, we're having some problems backstage…so we'll have to delay the concert portion of the party for just a little while. We shouldn't take long, so just try to relax and chat amongst yourselves. Band people, come with me." Our instruments were quickly abandoned as the rest of the crew followed me upstairs to my bedroom. Tony, Sam and Amber soon joined us from the sea of people, having been mingling with some other friends for most of the night.

As we gathered around Trevor, the air around us became tense and heavy, giving off a foreboding vibe. He seemed to sink lower and lower into the mattress the closer we got to him, like he secretly wanted to disappear between it and the box spring.

"Ok dude, spill it. Do you know what's up or what?" Sam demanded, clearly wigged out by all the commotion this was causing.

All eyes turned to the bed where Trevor was, each pair trying to stare the answer out of him. His darted around from face to face, as if he were searching for a reply outside of his own mind, "Well…do any of you remember those freaky dreams we had a few years ago? Just before our freshman year?" he began shakily, "I think this _**may**_ have something to do with them."

My heart skipped five beats at once, and there was a collective gasp around the room. Even the ones who weren't band members at the time looked horrified…had they experienced the same nightmares we did?

"_What_…what do you mean by that?" C'Lee whimpered.

He sighed heavily, putting his head in his hands, "I saw the black mirrors with the red eyes again, a few months ago. I didn't think much of it until _**crazy**_ stuff started happening at the house…pictures with all of us in them would get moved around, our mirrors would turn up missing for days and would reappear in _**super**_ weird places, the dogs would bark at _**nothing**_ in the middle of the night…"

"And you didn't tell any of us this because…**WHY** exactly?!" Amber chastised him, "There better be a _**great**_ reason that you didn't say anything until now!"

"I didn't want to worry anybody…"

"Seriously?"

"Sorry…I didn't think that it would lead to this. Mom and Page started noticing it, and it's really freaking them out. Charlie won't even sleep by himself anymore." He rubbed his temples, "It's gotten so bad here lately that…well…"

Tony crossed his arms and leaned forward, "Well what? What is it? "

"Trevor c'mon man, what's wrong?" Matt was tensed up, like he was waiting for the worst news of his life.

"Mom wants to leave Georgia…for good. She doesn't feel like we're _safe_ here anymore. And I think she's right." He finished, "I just thought I'd be able to wait until this concert was over before I told you, but it looks like whatever has been in my house has followed me here. So, for my safety and yours, I've also decided to never return to Underland…that's where this mess is coming from, and that's where it should stay."

No one moved, no one breathed. No protests escaped from anyone's lips.

Except for the chilling scream from downstairs.

Temporarily forgetting the loss we had just suffered, all of us raced to the banister overlooking the party to see what was going on. A horrifying sight met our eyes…

A black mist floated above the floor, encircling the guests' feet and sliding up the tables and the stairs. Shapes rose and fell from the vapors, forcing people against the wall and behind tables; eerie noises emerged from the shapes…squeals and shrieks of such high pitches that I thought my ears would start bleeding.

"The heck is that?!" Lucy screamed over the shrill wails. As we tried in vain to drown out the noise by covering our ears with our hands, we also failed to give her an answer.

We huddled together on the landing, hoping and praying that the fog didn't swallow anyone or anything in the house. Several people were trying to get the front door, and even the windows open to escape, but the cloud of smoke had us all locked in from every angle; any potential exit was sealed off by a thick, black haze.

"What're we supposed to do?!" Mayo cried out just as the light bulbs burst and plunged us in to total darkness. The mob below went into full panic mode, with howls of sheer terror filling the whole house and frantic beating thundering against the barrier between them and freedom. My heart was racing like a horse at full gallop, and I could actually feel it beating inside my chest. It hit me full-on just how helpless we really were against something like this…and how I really should've seen this coming a million miles away. That night when the names faded from the parchment, the night-terrors we all had…they were such obvious signs, but we had all been blind to them this whole time! And now others were going to pay for our oversight…

The air around us turned blistering cold, our quivering breath visible in the pitch black. A crimson red orb appeared in the center of the mist, and then split into a pair of demon-like eyes which gazed into the sea of fear-stricken teenagers. All the yowling was suddenly silenced, and from the eyes came a voice that could only belong to an evil being. It spoke directly to the band members, calling us out as if it were proposing a challenge, "_You so-called __**Wonderland Warriahs**__ 'ad best prepare fo' a battle dat will test how worthy you ahre of that name…If you fail…Underland won't be de __**only**__ world to fall to pieces…_" it warned, adding menacing laughter for effect.

Though we were petrified by this threat of world destruction, an abrupt eruption of light from behind us shook us to our senses, and everyone turned just in time to see a brilliant figure glide down the staircase and lunge at the dark mass already present. The two clouds wrestled and merged together in the middle of the room, twisting and writhing as one enormous veil of mist. Even more unearthly sounds came from the battling forms, and bigger silhouettes arose from them to claw and tear at each other. Most of the partygoers were in hysterics at this point, wailing and sobbing like banshees in a huddled mass just out of the reach of the rumble.

"_**Another**_ one?!" Maccay gripped the railing and stared in awe at the roiling fog beneath us. The twins and Amber scanned the upper floor for any sign of more creatures.

"_**What**_ is going _**on**_ here?! This is _**madness**_!" I clutched my head in frustration. This was getting entirely too out of hand!

As if it wasn't already overflowing with organisms not of this realm, the White Queen, Mirana of Marmoreal appeared out of the blue (_or, more accurately, out of my bathroom_ _mirror_) looking rather frazzled, "_**Begone**_ shadow creatures! _**Return**_ from whence you hail from, you _**demon**_ _**spirits**_! _**Flee**_ to your master and do _**not**_ come back to this world!" she commanded as she stepped over the threshold of my room, brandishing her glowing scepter. When her colorless form became visible over the balcony, the fighting ceased almost instantly, and both beings let out terrible screams before fading away altogether. Any people not hunkered down with their heads between their knees gawked up at the queen in amazement.

I was a little more ruffled than excited to see her, but I managed to sound enthusiastic, "You're sure a sight for sore eyes, your majesty. Though I thought your forte was in brewing potions, not _**exorcisms**_…"

She smiled coolly, "Luck favors the prepared, dear. I dabble in several magic arts in my spare time." Mirana turned to greet the other occupants of the veranda, most of whom had never met her before, but stopped short like something was amiss.

"What?"

She did a double-take, and then shook it off, "Oh nothing…but weren't there eleven of you just a moment ago?"

We all turned and counted each other, and then realized who'd slunk off while no one was looking.

"_**Trevor**_!" I boomed, gripping the banister and glowering down to the now closing front door that he'd escaped from, "That _**chicken**_! He just _**left**_ us! He left!" Luke pulled me back so that I wouldn't run after him and put my shiny leather boot where the Sun doesn't shine. Trevor's mask lay discarded on the floor, a final memento left like Cinderella's glass slipper at midnight.

Mirana was suddenly very tense and curt when she spoke, "Indeed he is. He told me of his departure only a few nights ago, and I've been rather upset with him since then." There was sadness beneath her anger, though it was limited to her eyes and didn't breach the surface of her face, "That is likely why he ran when I arrived. He was afraid to face me again."

The rest of the band exchanged looks of disbelief while I grappled with my swelling anger, "I mean…I understand that he's worried about whatever's been in his house but he…that's no reason to _**abandon**_ us! If we'd all stuck together, maybe we could've figured out what's going on…too late for that now I guess."

"Did anyone else in Underland know he was leaving?" Lucy asked the question that was on all our minds. I had a feeling that at least one other person knew, but for his sake I hoped I was wrong. I really didn't feel like putting forth the effort to chew him out for not telling anybody.

She nodded, "Absolem knew."

I was livid.

"Oh, so that slimy little cretin is too high and mighty to let us know, '_Oh hey, one of your best friends since you were four years old, your fellow band member, and one of only ten other people who knows of the existence of a magical world that you regularly travel to is about to hit the road and never speak to you again._', is he?! Not to mention we'll lose _**all**_ the memories that we shared with Trevor! Gee thanks _**Absolem**_!" he'd gone and done it now. This was the straw that broke the Bandersnatch's back. I'd had quite enough of the Butterfly hiding things like this from me…from all of us.

The White Queen seemed taken aback by my outburst, her eyes wide in shock, "I'm sure this must be upsetting for you all, but I can assure you that this is not _**entirely**_ Absolem's fault. He was given this information on such short notice that he didn't have enough time to tell you."

"_**Bull**_! If he had a few days, that was _**plenty**_ of time to let us know! I hope you came here to take us back with you Mirana, because I have some _**choice**_ words for that over-grown worm with wings…"

Her mood lightened slightly, "Actually, yes, that's what I had originally come here for. I was coming to tell you some much better news, as a matter of fact…"

Matt groaned, "That better not be sarcasm, your majesty..."

"Not at all dear... We also learned recently that Alice will be returning tomorrow morning." She was genuinely smiling now, "The other Underland rulers and I are holding a ball in her honor, and you are all invited."

Briefly forgetting my rage, I managed to crack a tiny smile.

Mirana cast another powerful spell over our guests, so that time would not pass in our lengthy absence, and we all prepared to make a trip to Marmoreal. There wasn't enough time or really a need to change clothes for the ball, so we just stayed in our costumes and masks. Remembering the mysterious ability I had during my first legitimate trip to change clothes according to my current situation, I wondered if everyone would be able to switch their wardrobe without their own knowledge like I had. Most of the time I hadn't noticed it unless someone made a remark about it…Underland is such a curious place sometimes!

Ok, _**most**_ of the time. And it was a little more than _**curious**_.

All of us were lined up in front of the vanity mirror in my bathroom, the very same one that Stayne had appeared in that night a few years ago, and the White Queen was instructing us on how to use a Looking-Glass Portal.

"Alright, now everyone take the hands of the people next to you, and whatever happens…do _**not**_, under _**any**_ circumstances, let go until we are _**all**_ on the other side of the mirror. If you do, you will be transported elsewhere in Underland, and none of us will know where you went." She advised us, "Now Lucy, you take my hand, and all of you come this way…" and with that, she walked right through the sink and cabinet as if it weren't there and into the place beyond the mirror.

Being a little apprehensive about walking through solid objects, a few of us hesitated before following in her footsteps. However, we all melted into them effortlessly and soon emerged in a shimmering room made of nothing but reflective glass. Everywhere we looked we stared ourselves in the eye thousands of times, our clones mimicking our every move. It reminded me of the funhouses at fairs and carnivals and their Mirror Mazes, where one wrong step would lead you to a dead end.

"You may let go now, we're all safely across." We all dropped hands and stood in wonderment at the room around us.

"Are these all different portals?" C'Lee looked at her twin beside her, and then at the one in front of her. Lucy did the same and they both laughed.

"No, this is only one. Each portal looks different. This is the one into my throne room…I figured it would be the best one to come out of with so many of us coming through at once."

"How many are there?"

I remembered Absolem telling me about each of the Looking-Glasses, "There's at least one in each place and usually one that's hidden for emergency escapes; two in Marmoreal, four in the Mushroom Forest, two in the Garden of Live Flowers, there _**were **_three in Salazen Grum when Iracebeth was there, but I highly doubt they'll even open now, and the original two in Tulgey Wood."

"Wow…are there any other ones outside of your queendom?"

Mirana glided over to the other end of the chamber, "It's possible, but I do not know for certain. Come, come now... Don't tarry too long…" we all joined hands again and trailed behind her as she entered her throne room.

Several familiar faces awaited us on the other side; Chessur, the Tweedles, Mallymkun, McTwisp and the March Hare were all gathered on either side of the mirror. The only ones I didn't see were the Hatter, Stayne and Absolem.

Well, perhaps I spoke too soon about one of them…

"Allyson." A deceivingly deep voice stated from atop the gilded frame. A pair of black and blue wings fluttered gently, "Glad you made it here safely. I heard about the smoke creatures that got through."

I could almost feel my eyes narrow and my face grow red, "Yeah, well there's a few things that I would've liked to have heard about _**before**_ they happened,__not_** after**_ the fact. Next time you speak to me so casually, try and remember if you've annoyed me lately."

He flew off of the mirror and hovered in front of my face, "If you mean Trevor, then you have every right to be angry, but you have to understand-"  
"Understand _**what**_?! That you can't even tell me the _**simplest **_thing that may mean life or death? You didn't even bother to tell me about the _**Jabberwocky**_ last time I was here, so I don't know why I was so shocked that you knew about him leaving!"

He didn't bother to counter my accusations, "Understand that it was too _**dangerous**_ for anyone to cross between our worlds at the time. You saw what happened when Mirana came to get you all; the two smoke demons got out of Underland and into your very house!"

"And whose fault is that? _**Who's**_ the guardian of all the portals in and out of here? Of any magical artifact not under someone _**else's**_ protection?" I snarled, "Isn't it _**you**_ Absolem?"

His wings flapped more rapidly, "Every one of my most powerful defensive spells was put on all of the portals and yet they still broke through. No amount of any magic that _**I**_ could conjure could've held them back. I'm not the _**only**_ one with powers here you know."

Actually, I didn't know that he wasn't the only mystic being down here, but I wasn't letting on that much. We scowled at each other for a moment before I realized that everyone else had already left the room, and I ducked under him and went to find the others.

He didn't follow.

Everyone was assembled outside in the courtyard, talking excitedly and milling about beneath the fading pink blossoms of the trees. Just as I began to meld into the group and exchange greetings, the sound of pounding hooves and rumbling paws reached my ears from beyond the gates. We all turned in time to see a blur of grey go flying by, followed by the Mad Hatter perched atop the Bandersnatch.

Tarrant looked a little down in the dumps when he first arrived, but the moment he saw all of us, he must've realized what we were there for, "So it's _**true**_ then! Alice _is_ coming back!" he smiled, all the colors on him brightening instantly. He ran over and embraced Mayo, twirling her around in delight.

"Why else would this hooligan be here?" another voice asked from behind us. I didn't even have to look to know who it belonged to, "Man, Mirana just lets anybody in here, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, you're welcome for that, by the way." We both smirked.

"Nice costume, squirt. Make it yourself, did you?" I realized his eye patch was gone, replaced by the long, thin scar that covered his eye. All that was left of it was a narrow outline.

"That's why it looks so good."

He snickered, "Well, it _**is**_ modeled after _**me**_ sooo…"

Pretending to cringe from his (_admittedly very clever_) comeback, I threw my hands up in mock defeat, "Alright, ya got me! That was a good one."

"When I heard you were coming, I decided to brush up on my wisecracking and cynicism."

"I see. Then I have taught you well, young master." Both of us chuckling, he pulled me over to him and we hugged each other tightly. I suddenly remembered how much I had missed this place…and all of my friends here.


	3. Awaiting Alice's Arrival

_**Chapter Two –**_

_**Awaiting Alice's Arrival**_

_**T**_he Clubs were the first to arrive for the grand ball, given that they were the closest to Marmoreal and had no serious geographical hurdles to jump over. Their soldiers' purple and silver uniforms reminded me vaguely of samurai soldiers; the helmets looked as though they were meant for intimidation. They each had a sword that appeared similar to the Vorpal Blade and the armor was thin, but I had a feeling it would take a lot to pierce it. The ordinary citizens all had long, dark hair, eyes that were colors of the dawn. Their king was wearing a deep violet kimono that was trimmed in silver, and his long black and grey hair was trailing down his shoulder in a thick braid, giving him the air of an ancient Japanese shogun. He grinned broadly when he caught sight of the White Queen, "Ah Mirana! How long it's been!" he stepped out of his amethyst and grey carriage and bowed as she approached.

"We're so glad you could make it Sunyi…it has been quite a while since we've all been called together hasn't it?"

"We were much younger, the last time I recall…"

Still somewhat mesmerized by the sea of indigo and silver, I glanced up at Ilosovic, "Do they have a knight or a knave, or something like that? Or is that just our thing? "

He smirked, "Oh no, they've got one…she's bringing up the rear I believe."

"_She_?" my jaw dropped. Their knight was a girl?

"That's her, right over there. See the big grey horse?" Sam nodded toward a hulking Appaloosa with a mane and tail that almost touched the ground that was following behind the other carriages. Indeed, there was a rather petite lady sitting on its back, her dark brown hair nearly as long as her horse's, "That's Saleen. She's the one I've been with…" Sam noted.

I snickered, "She the one who taught you how to do hair?"

"How'd you guess?"

Saleen soon spotted Stayne and immediately leapt off her horse, "Ahh! 'Losovic! What are you doing here, I thought you were with Iracebeth?!" her voice had a heavy Hispanic accent, and even though she was hardly taller than me, she managed to get her arms around his neck.

"Well thanks to Allyson I'm not. You know, the other girl everybody's been talking about?" he nudged me forward.

Her eyes, that I suddenly realized were a bright pinkish-purple, widened, "Yes, yes I remember. She's the one that beat the stuffing out of you and then saved your rear end, eh?"

His face flushed bright red, "Yeah…"

"That's me!"

She winked mischievously, "Trust me kiddo, you aren't the first lady to one-up him. It's been kind of a trend since we were kids for the girls to use him as a practice dummy."

"Hey, hey, hey!" he jumped to his own defense, "The only reason you beat me that one time is because _**somebody**_ was distracting me…" he turned and stared pointedly at the Hatter, who then proceeded to look in the same direction, even though no one was beside him.

"I've no idea what he's talking about…" Tarrant chuckled.

Just as Stayne was about to remind him, another platoon of soldiers paraded across the drawbridge, covered in spikes and all decked in forest green and gold. Unlike the Clubs, who were willowy and had hair down to at least their knees, the Spades (_I guessed, judging by the insignia on the soldiers' breastplates_) were short and stocky with shaggy, coarse hair that came in all shades of orange, green, yellow, and browns. Their eyes were the same hues, and their clothes were ragged and worn, like they'd been working outdoors all day. The people were mostly very bulky, and rather short men, with a few women (_well they __**looked**__ like women_) here and there.

Their king was a stocky, sinewy looking fellow that was reminiscent of a professional football player. His eyes were a dusty gold-like color, and his hair was a pale grassy green. He had a deep, booming voice that startled me when he first spoke out, "How grand it is to return to Marmoreal! I trust that my two good friends are well, Mirana, Sunyi? " he thundered, though I didn't catch the rest of their conversation.

"I wonder where Elias is." Saleen nudged Ilosovic with her elbow, "Last I heard of him, he was still the _Knave_ of Spades…"

Tony, who had been previously occupied with readjusting his gloves, decided to pop into the conversation, "Oh, he's the Knight now…he hasn't stopped talking about it since it happened. That was almost six months ago."

"Hmm, not bad for the runt of the litter…took him long enough, eh?"

"I don't really have any room to talk about that…it's only been four years since Mirana knighted me." Stayne shrugged, "Eli was only a knave for two, so he actually beat both of us."

"Methinks my ears are burnin'…you lot wouldn't be talkin' about me, now would ya? " a lanky little boy, probably five or six at the most, called as he leapt off a thick-built Palomino and strutted to our small gathering. His hair was feathery and straw-colored, and his eyes glimmered blue like the ocean.

"We wouldn't be if you didn't give us so much to talk about."

"Congrats on being made a knight pipsqueak. What brave and noble deed got you in? " Stayne thumped him on the back.

"Oi, take it easy on me! I'm still a mite sore from it…" Elias rolled his shoulder before continuing, "Had to help ward off a horde of bluddy Mome Raths…they were eatin' everythin' in sight! Everythin' that didn't move, that is."

Saleen and Ilosovic suddenly began cackling madly, "_Mome Raths?!_ You got knighted because you helped get rid of some _Mome Raths?!_" Saleen giggled.

From what I've been told, Mome Raths aren't much of a serious threat; they're only about four inches tall and fuzzy, with big round eyes and they make little peeping noises. Despite the fact that they eat almost anything, they're actually kind of cute. I didn't quite get how someone could be knighted for doing away with such tiny creatures.

"Well a bunch of 'em latched onto the king and I got 'em off for 'im. All without tearing any fabric on his precious suit." he grumbled, "Used a sword to cut 'em off. Not a nick or a snag, not a one!"

"_**Oh**_, _**great**_ and _**mighty**_ slayer of the vicious _**Mome Rath**_ beasts!" Ilosovic mocked him, "How our deeds of heroism _**pale**_ in comparison to you, oh _**marvelous**_-"

"Alright! Alright Stayne! Lay off it…" Eli punched him lightly on the arm; "At least _**I**_ can fend something off that's _**smaller**_ than me with a _**sword**_!" he nodded in my direction.

"They were both _surprise_ attacks!"

"So we heard…" both he and Saleen gave Ilosovic teasing glances before turning to the third army marching over the drawbridge. Their ruby red and shimmering gold crystal soldiers stood out against the alabaster backdrop of the castle walls and the aura of authority surrounded the whole group of them. Their queen sat tall in her carriage, her young face was bright with a serene smile, while most of her subjects looked haughty and stuck-up, "Good evening everyone…sorry we're late! There was a borogrove migration that blocked the road between Queast and Tulgey Wood, so we had to wait for them to pass. " she greeted the other monarchs as she descended from her coach.

"Not at all Rubi! We wouldn't have started without you!" Mirana embraced the other queen like it'd been ages since they'd seen each other.

Stayne and Elias groaned with displeasure when Amber pointed out the fact that it was the Diamonds approaching the entrance.

"Why so eager to see them?" I asked, perplexed by their disdain.

"Two words lassie…"

"_**Arondight**_. _**Thorne**_…"

I was still slightly confused, "Who's he? Is he the king or something?"

Amber rolled her eyes and popped her chewing gum, "He _thinks_ he is. He's the Knight of Diamonds…and an arrogant, snobby, bratty, immature-"

"Sneaky, trifling, hateful-"

"Good-for-nothing, bothersome git." Ilosovic spat, "He also happens to be trying to woo Saleen, and he isn't doing too badly so far!" he winked at the female knight, and only narrowly dodged her swinging fist.

I glanced up from laughing at their antics and met the stony brown gaze of an armored soldier riding on the back of a Clydesdale that was covered in gold and red silk from its head to its tail. He had a scar running across his right eye that was strikingly similar to Ilosovic's, though it was on the opposite side, and his right eye was slightly lighter-colored than his left.

"Is that him on the big horse?"

Stayne turned toward the direction I was indicating, and his expression changed almost immediately when he saw the other guy, "Yeah." he growled, returning Thorne's glare, "That's him."

Maccay piped up from behind us, "I take it he's one of your _best_ _friends_, huh?"

"Not likely. Oh, get this! They're looking for a _Knave_ of Diamonds. I've heard that they were finally gonna give ol' Thorne the boot here soon, but they haven't found anybody to take over after him…" Eli sounded almost excited that Arondight was soon to be the ex-Knight.

"Yeah…I'm sure he's not too thrilled about it…" Amber popped another bubble, "Not that it bothers me that he's irked. I don't particularly like him."

"Join the club…" everyone chorused.

"Well I'm glad you're all _**happy**_ to see me. I assure you the feeling's _**mutual**_." a growling voice snapped from beside Saleen. The whole group shifted the opposite direction, some of them gasping with surprise.

Sure enough, Arondight Thorne was right there…and he was twice as scary up close. He just looked downright hateful.

"_Thorne_." Ilosovic snarled in greeting. The Knight of Hearts had a nasty gleam in his eye that I'd never seen in them before…and something told me that he hated this man more than he'd hated the Red Queen.

A devilish sneer slithered its way onto Thorne's face, "Well, _well_, _**well**_…_**Ilosovic**_ _**Stayne**_. What a _**surprise**_! I didn't know Mirana uses _**rats**_ in her army…" he hissed.

Everyone gawked at him in disbelief, "_**Excuse**_ me? I don't believe I heard you right…" I stepped in between them and stared him down, "_**What**_ was that you just said to my friend here? Wanna run it by me again?" I challenged.

He lowered his gaze from Stayne's to mine, "No, I'm afraid you heard me correctly young lady. You must be the other…_ahem_... _**Overlander**_ that was here on the Frabjous Day… Allyson, I believe?"

"Yeah." Lucy snipped.

"That's her." C'Lee snapped.

"Yes…you helped Alice slay the Jabberwocky, if memory serves…"

"As a matter of fact I _**did**_. I also got _**him**_ out of the former Red Queen's castle in one piece." I added.

He smirked, "How _touching_. A rather _daring_ rescue, was it not?"

"More daring than anything I've ever heard of _**you**_ doing!" Amber rolled her eyes at him and muttered, "Remind me _**how**_ you became the Knight of _**anywhere**_?"

"Don't let him go on about _**that**_! We'd be here 'til tomorrow!" Eli interrupted before the Knight of Diamonds could begin.

Of course, we didn't have that kind of time, since most of us were riding out to get Alice from the Looking-Glass Portal in the morning and needed our sleep. Falling into a tense silence, our group turned and trotted off to the castle doors, leaving Saleen and Arondight behind. She had been the only one who'd greeted him kindly… she hadn't greeted him at all actually.

The palace was now filled to the brim with people milling about, socializing, and catching up with old friends that they hadn't seen since before the war broke out. Families were reunited with one another, lovers embraced like it had been centuries since they'd been together, and cries of "Mummy" and "Daddy" rang out from children who had been separated from their parents. The atmosphere was swimming with a feeling of relief and joy that all of these people had survived a skirmish that had ripped the land apart.

There was also a twinge of sadness for those who had been lost, like Tarrant's family and presumably, Stayne's parents as well. His scarred face fell every time he saw a couple kiss passionately, or a mother and father crying tears of joy with their child sandwiched between them.

"Hey, you ok?" I tugged lightly on his arm. He only nodded; smiling sadly as he searched the crowd for people he knew weren't there. I too watched in vain, hoping for his sake that we were wrong, that any moment Luna Hightopp or his mom and dad would come running out of nowhere and surprise him. How I wished that I'd gotten the chance to meet his mother and father; they were both legendary warriors, his father was the White Knight that Alice inherited the Vorpal Sword from, and his mother was the first woman to be officially knighted in Underland history.

We could both use some sparring tips from fighters as skilled as them…and he could really use his family.

"Don't worry about me kiddo…I'll…I'll be fine." he sighed.

I knew very well that he was on the verge of tears, but I nodded in agreement, "Alright, but I'm staying with you for now, 'cause I don't know half these people anyway with my band scattered through the crowd. And I don't wanna run the risk of running across-"

"_Me_ while you're alone?" Thorne finished my sentence for me with a vicious sneer.

"Yeah, _**you**_." I pursed my lips and flipped my eye patch up so I could glare at him to the fullest extent, "I didn't wanna see you 'cause I'm not in the mood to fight with anyone right now…so if you want something besides that, let's hear it."

"Ah yes; I simply wanted to congratulate you on your victory against the Jabberwocky. Not many _**Overlanders**_ are used to such battles, and you and Miss Alice handled that very well. Not to mention you were such _**young**_ girls then…" his tone was as condescending as the look on his face.

"Oh, it was nothing really. Most of us _**Overlanders**_ are pretty level-headed in stressful situations like that. Especially us women; we're _**always**_ cool under pressure." I shot back confidently.

"Mmhmm…I see…well I shan't bother you anymore tonight. Fairfarren, for now, little dragon slayer… and Stayne." Thorne bowed before strutting off into the crowd.

"Hmph." Stayne mumbled.

"My thoughts exactly."

"And y'know what the _best_ part is? He's _always_ that pleasant."

"You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking."

"Nope."

"Fan_**freaking**_tastic…"

"Tell me about it…he's been that way as long as I can remember. I don't know who spit in his tarts, but I sure would like to find them and give them a piece of my mind!" Stayne's arms were crossed over his chest.

I snickered, "For what? Spitting on the tarts?" He cracked a small, half-hearted smile.

He thumped the brim of my hat, knocking it over my eyes, "I thought you were a musician, not a comedian. Are you sure you're in the right career?"

"Don't worry; I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon." I reassured him, pulling my hat back into its proper place.

"Good girl." He tried to hit it again, but I ducked out of his reach, "It's a good thing your party was a masquerade…the ball tomorrow is one too."

"Really?" Luke suddenly appeared beside me in a swirl of his feathery cape, and after flipping his bird mask up, gave me a light peck on the cheek, "I guess that's just good planning on your part hon."

"Call it intuition." Or the Oraculum, whichever.

He looked up at Stayne curiously, "So what's the plan for tomorrow exactly? Who's going to get Alice in the morning?"

As we slowly wove through the crowd, the outline of the next day was laid out for us, "Well everyone that wants to can come to the Portal in the Garden of Live Flowers , but only three of us are going through to bring her back…those three being Allyson, the Hatter, and me. We're the ones she's most likely to remember without stepping back into Underland, or at least we hope so."

"What if she doesn't remember any of you? Will you still bring her back?"

"She'll get all her memories back when she returns. Tarrant and I will look quite a bit different than we do now. Allyson's just going to be all dressed up; since we're time traveling as well as traveling to a different world, we have to look the part."

"Is…this safe?" Luke's hand tightened around mine and he pulled me closer to him.

Stayne smiled, "Completely. But _**trust**_ me, if something _**did**_ come up, she can handle herself _**quite**_ well. I've seen that firsthand…and I've _**felt**_ her wrath too."

I scoffed, "_**Puh-lease**_, that was nothing! I was being _**nice**_ when I beat you up because I was _trying_ to help you out. Some people wouldn't be so fortunate if they tried to scrap with me."

Luke raised his eyebrow, "You haven't been picking fights with people down here, _**have**_ you honey?"

"Nope. _**They**_ all started it. And by _'they'_ I mean _him_ and the Red Queen."

Both of them rolled their eyes, but only Stayne chuckled, "Yeah, I sure did if disagreeing with her is classified as '_starting it_'."

"It usually is." I remarked, "There are very few occasions where it isn't."

"Yeah, I'm sure." We had climbed the grand staircase and stopped to watch the churning mass of people, when the Knight stopped abruptly and stared out into the crowd, "_Wait…that couldn't be…_"

Luke and I followed him, trying to figure out what or who he was watching so intently. It was hard to pick out the people that we knew, much less follow his gaze among the sea of strangers.

"Stayne, who are you looking at? Do you see somebody?"

His eyes were both as wide as teacup saucers, his mouth hanging slightly open. He gripped the banister and almost stumbled the rest of the way to the floor. People stepped aside as he moved forward, and then I noticed that they were moving over for someone else…

A tall, slender woman with long silvery hair, dressed in red, white, and gold was slowly making her way towards us. Her eyes were a crystal blue, and even from where I was I could see them brimming with tears. As the first of them spilled over her lashes, it finally dawned on me who she was.

"_Mom_?"

She nodded, coming still closer, "Yes Ilosovic, it's me…"

Now he was tearing up too, "Is…is Dad here too? Or…?"

"He's here. And Tarrant's mother and father are as well." His mother reached out and embraced him like she would never let him go. The two of them almost sank to the ground, both nearly collapsing from pure joy, "I'm so glad you're alright…we thought we'd lost you when we heard Iracebeth got banished. We thought surely you'd been sent with her-"

"He almost was." A man, who could only be described as Ilosovic in about thirty years or so, approached from behind her, "Mirana told me that a young girl that was with Alice got him out of Salazen Grum before the battle, and that she fought the Jabberwocky alongside her."

Still stunned into silence, I watched as the three of them turned to the stairwell to stare up at me, knowing I had a ridiculously blank look on my face. Apparently the others gathering around them had overheard and where muttering about the Frabjous Day battle, or at least the things they'd been told by the messengers sent out afterwards. I'm sure some things had probably been stretched way out of proportion, but you'll have that when there's a legendary and world-changing battle fought by two people that are way out of their element (_and way out of their league_). Especially if the details get spread like a game of Telephone…it gets _**really**_ crazy, _really_ quick.

Sensing a blush was creeping over my cheeks, I lowered the brim of my hat to hide the redness and I took a few steps down. Luke and Ilosovic seemed to find this amusing, and could scarcely hide their giggling behind their hands. My futile attempts at an annoyed glower were even funnier to them. This wasn't exactly the kind of attention I was used to…

"That's her."

The Knight's parents looked to him, and then back at me, "You're the girl?" his father inquired, "That fought the creature and brought our son back to Marmoreal?"

I managed to find my voice to answer, "Yes sir. I did." Luke came down to stand behind me, putting his hand on my shoulder. My sense of humor came back to me when I regained the ability to speak, "Has he _**always**_ been as stubborn and obstinate as he was when I tried to talk him into leaving?"

He gave his son an incredulous glance, "You didn't _want_ to go with her?"

"Honestly…if you knew how she was going about her plan to _'liberate' _me and a few of the others in the castle, you'd've thought she was madder than the _**whole**_ _**lot**_ of the Hightopp clan! You wouldn't have gone with her at first either!"

"I can vouch for that sir!" Tarrant appeared out of the crowd, towing Mayo and two other people behind him, who I assumed were _his_ mom and dad, "She's _**bonkers**_, _**completely**_ off her head! _**But**_, there's a thing about that, you see…" he lowered his voice to barely a whisper, but I knew the phrase that came out of his mouth verbatim. It was Alice's way of explaining the bright side to being off the deep end, and every word of it was true, at least in my experience.

"_All the best people are…_"

Stayne senior smiled in agreement.

The younger Knight motioned for me to join them on the ballroom floor, and I timidly shuffled towards them, "My plan was a bit off-kilter at times, I will admit that sir. In all honesty, most of it was made up as I went along."

His smile was crooked, only turning up on one side of his mouth, "No need to call me sir, unless you're in the army, miss. You can call me Alexander, and this is my wife Jasmin." He and I shook hands and Jasmin almost smothered me in a grandmotherly hug and thanks for saving her only child from the desert-like torment of the Outlands. Then we all three noticed that Ilosovic was trying to conceal a smirk, "What is it son?"

"Mirana didn't tell you? She knighted me after the Frabjous Day, and made _**me**_ Captain of the army." Stayne junior stated smugly.

Alexander shot me a questioning glance, as though he wondered if this was true, and when I nodded and told him that she even used my sword to do it, he clapped him on the back and congratulated him, "I always knew you'd get my spot someday, and I'm proud of you for it. But know this; that makes me _**Major**_ Stayne, and I'll be sending word to the men that they have my express permission to heckle you constantly if you set one hair out of line. And that permission extends to your friend Allyson here too."

"She's already gotten that message, Dad. She got it four years ago the moment we laid eyes on each other. And she hasn't stopped since." He rolled his eyes while everyone else chuckled.

"I don't deny it, and don't intend to stop either."

"I kinda figured that."

The Hatter's father elbowed Alexander, "At least you know that your son will be on his toes at all times, right old boy? " and then he stuck his hand out to me, "Samuel Hightopp's the name missy, but you can call me Sam." His handshake was a little more…_animated _than Alexander's had been. As I took a better look at him, I could see traces of Tarrant in his face; though they were paler than his son's, Sam had the same bright green eyes and wild orange hair, complete with a gap-toothed grin. His wife, Rosalynn, had hair that was a pale salmon pink and her eyes were teal, so it was very obvious that both of my friends got their looks from their Dads, much like I did.

Tarrant's mother spoke up, "We've heard so many stories about you and Alice; I'm glad that we'll have the privilege to meet you both." And she hugged me lightly. She put me in the mind of the kind of grandmother who makes patchwork quilts and bakes you cookies every time you see her, as opposed to Jasmin being the stern but gentle matriarch who lived in the closest thing to a small castle with antique furniture and at least three large, purebred cats.

"The pleasure's all mine…I'm just glad you're all _**here**_ and not where we thought you were…" I thought of the sight I'd seen on my previous misadventure with Alice; Witzend in ruin, nothing but charred remnants of the small village that the Hightopps had lived in for years. There was no measure for the relief that I felt when it hit me that the Hatter would no longer have so much of a burden to weigh on him; his parents and some other family members had survived the Horunvendush Day Massacre, and Alice was coming back.

"It seems to me that everyone is just glad to be here in general." C'Lee noted, having appeared from the midst of the crowd followed by Lucy and the Tweedles, "We _**did **_just narrowly escape those smoke creatures that crashed our party."

The rest of the band, who had managed to regroup around the base of the stairs, nodded. The Underlanders looked a little shell-shocked, "Smoke creatures? What is she talking about?" Alexander seemed concerned about the demonesque things that had preceded Mirana's arrival.

Just before I could begin to explain, or at least _try_ to anyway, the White Queen interrupted, "Nothing to worry about now, they've been sent back where they came from, and should not return." She herded all of us together and tried to send us upstairs, "At any rate, you all need to get to bed. Those of you that are going to the Portal tomorrow need to be up bright and early in the morning to get there in time."

McTwisp, who was leading another small party towards the corridors where all the bedrooms were, paused beside me, "Especially _**you**_, since you're going through it with Ilosovic and Tarrant. You have a few more preparations to be made, so I'll be coming by to get you up."

Unable to help myself, I smirked and shot back, "Don't be _late_." He only shook his head and bounded ahead of us.

As we ascended the flight of steps, Maccay posed a question that hadn't even really crossed my mind, "Um…your highness? Are there enough rooms for _**all**_ of these people?"

Mayo piped up as well, "Is your castle really big enough to house four kingdoms of people? No offense, but it doesn't look like it…" she added sheepishly.

"There are several other hallways around the palace with spare rooms, however, should those not be sufficient, there is a charm on each of the halls that will allow them to expand indefinitely until the lodging requirements are met. All of the rooms will modify themselves to fit the inhabitant's needs as well." She replied, as if this was a common practice to have extension spells on one's house that change to suit your fancy. It sure would be nice to have one of those over my place!

Tony was mumbling something about learning the enchantment so that he could put as much space as he wanted between himself and Amber when we reached our enormous room. There were ten beds around the room in a semi-circle; each one big enough to hold at least three people comfortably, and each one had a Warrior's name inscribed in the headboard. They were all even different colors! A matching nightstand sat to the left of every bed, with neatly folded nightclothes lying on top and drawers big enough to stash our costumes in without wrinkling them. A balcony awaited us through a pair of sliding glass doors, the view encompassing the shimmering lake, the winding road beyond the gates, and the tops of the trees in the courtyard. Armchairs and loveseats were shoved into various nooks and crannies with books piled waist-high beside them. A writing desk sat in one corner, covered in various pens and pencils and a whole forest's worth of paper. But the cherry on top of the cake was our instruments placed on top of the bedspreads (_except for mine, which was a Baby Grand Piano on the far wall with a microphone sitting atop it_), apparently modified to run on something other than electricity because their cords were all gone.

We were going to perform at the ball tomorrow.

Any of us wearing hats removed them immediately, and those only wearing masks slid them up onto their heads, and we all gaped at our new sleeping arrangement, "Whoa…" we all sighed in unison. There was no other way to sum it up properly. Whoa.

Mirana smiled contentedly as she moved to close the door and leave us to our own devices, "Enjoy."

We enjoyed ourselves immensely until the wee hours of the morning, when we managed to find our respective beds and collapse like puppets without strings. Mayo even fell asleep with one shoe still on, and Matt still had his cat eye contacts in.

By the break of dawn, Mayo had kicked her shoe off and all the way over to Amber's bed, Amber was in a chair rather than her bed, C'Lee was curled up at the wrong end of hers, Sam was almost in the floor, and Maccay had somehow come into possession of one of my pillows. Matt hadn't moved an inch from last night, Tony had been swallowed whole by his sheets, Lucy had her head stuck under her pillow, and Luke was squeezing his to death like he was afraid it was going to fall off the bed. I could faintly hear somebody snoring, but I couldn't tell if it was from any of us, or somebody next door.

Just as I was about to shut my eyes and drift back to sleep, the door creaked open slowly and the White Rabbit poked his head inside.

Resisting the urge to hiss like a vampire at the sunlight filtering through the curtains, I sat up and yawned, "Easter isn't for six more months cottontail, so why don't you go paint some more eggs or something?"

Unfazed by my grumpy daybreak demeanor, McTwisp straightened his waistcoat and spoke barely above a whisper, "Good morning to you too. And I can assure you that I have no association with the holiday that you are referring to…whatever it is."

"Indeed. C'mon, let's go then." Sliding from beneath the warmth of the comforters, I grudgingly put on a pair of slippers and grabbed a housecoat, "Her majesty better be able to work some real magic on this hair of mine, because I'm not even going to bother trying." The back of my head felt like Mally's family had tried to have a reunion on my scalp. Lovely.

"No need to worry about that, you'll look good as new when you're done with." Stayne, Ilosovic that is, was lounging against the wall just outside the door, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Not a hair out of place, or a sleepy undertone to his voice. I hate chipper morning people.

"It's too early for you to be this wide awake. Is there a potion or elixir that you can take to be this perky before the Sun comes up?"

He ruffled my already knotty hair, "Nah, I've always been up before everyone else. Just a habit I guess."

"Well I beg your pardon for not letting your habits rub off on me." I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and stretched. He offered to throw me in the pond outside to wake me up, and I threatened to take him down with me if he did. He also suggested giving me impromptu fencing lessons to make me a little more alert, but said nothing more when I reminded him which of us had won the last swordfight we'd gotten into.

The Hatter was already dressed and ready to roll by the time we got to his room, and in my opinion, he was also too energetic for this time of day. If Mirana is her usual bubbly self while she's debriefing us, I swear I'll scream. And the Butterfly better not even show up; cheerful or otherwise.

Absolem doesn't even need to show his ugly blue mug to make me mad now; just the thought of him is enough to make my blood boil…but for some reason, I can't remember why I'm angry at him. No matter how hard I try, nothing comes to mind when I try to recall what he's done this time. There was a feeling in my gut that it had something to do with someone else too, but I couldn't place just who it was. Maybe I was imagining things…

"You coming, Allyson?"

Evidently, I had stopped in the middle of the hall to contemplate my feelings of resentment, and had fallen behind the guys without realizing it. They paused just long enough for me to catch up, and we continued on to the throne room to meet with the Queen.

It took nearly an hour to get me into the corset, the hoop cage, and three petticoats, not to mention putting the actual dress on over it, and my sad attempts to tie the laces on my boots with all of my clothes already on. Having my hair braided into an intricate style by someone other than Sam took forty-five minutes in itself, and Tony could've done the makeup that took this girl half an hour in three minutes flat. Stayne and the Hatter had been dressed for a full two and a half hours before I was even close to being clothed properly. Then, because it was early winter in Overland, I had to put on a small fur cape and a muff to keep my hands warm. Unfortunately, the weather never changes here in Underland, so it was in the mid to high 70s when I stepped outside. I was sweating before I even got to the meeting area.

I had to tiptoe all the way to the stables in the ridiculous boots I had on so that I wouldn't trip over the hem of my dress, or take a tumble headlong down a flight of stairs. The rest of the castle had been awakened to follow us out, but only a few people were milling about in the plaza. The rest of my crew was back in their costumes from yesterday, relaxing beneath the archway that led to the topiary garden. A cerulean mist drifted across the ground, and for a half a second I thought another demon had broken into the castle, but then I remembered a certain insect with a chronic smoking problem that frequented the shrubbery.

He emerged from the bushes, landing on the brim of my tiny feathered hat, "Good morning." Absolem leaned over the edge upside down.

"It's still morning? It seems like it's already afternoon."

"Not quite yet." He chuckled, "I don't suppose you'd mind if I rode along with you to the Portal, would you?"

I shrugged, "I guess not…I'm still mad at you for whatever reason it was yesterday, I just can't remember what it is…so it would be wise of you not to bring it up."

His tiny eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "Well, alright then. If I remember why you're angry with me, I'll be sure to keep it to myself."

"Wait…you don't remember either?"

He shook his head.

"Oh…well…forget about it then." Waving off the bad feeling, I hobbled over to my friends on my knobby high heels, "Hey guys. How do I look?"

Luke was absolutely stunned, "Wow…honey, you look amazing…_as usual, of course_." He added under his breath as he pulled me into a hug that was almost as tight as the corset around my body. When he let me go, Amber commanded that I twirl around, so as to fully show off the almost floor-length red and black dress. This task was made exceedingly difficult by my current choice in footwear, but I accomplished it nonetheless. They all loved it; Maccay remarked that I looked rather fetching in my trademark shade of garnet, and everyone seemed to share the sentiment. Lucy and C'Lee both found the bouncy quality of my hair very amusing, as there were a few strands that were turned into corkscrew curls instead of braids. And everyone recognized the clock locket that dangled from my neck…the one that Stayne had given me. Luke had given me a heart-shaped necklace with his name engraved on its face too, which I was also wearing.

We were about to discuss the pros and cons of the shoes from Alice's time period when a team of pure white horses clip-clopped by, tugging a carriage that could've easily held twenty people. Mirana rode beside the driver up front, and patted the seats below her, "I thought it'd be much less trouble for you all to ride together, rather than each of you on individual horses. Hop in."

We all piled in one after the other, me being last because of the great debacle of getting my bloomin' dress through the door without flashing anyone. It took several tries to do so without ripping it or falling backwards, but I eventually got seated between Luke and the wall of the buggy.

As I glanced around, many more carriages arrived, and Jasmin, Samuel, Rosalynn, and another young woman climbed into a smaller one beside us. The younger lady had a little boy that looked a little older than five. He was practically bouncing off the seats!

"Hey Mayo, who's that?" I assumed that she would know if they were some of Tarrant's relatives, or if they were just hitching a ride with his parents.

Tarrant himself answered before she could, "That's my cousin's wife, Zada, and their son Remy. They escaped the fire too!" his grin was wider than all of Underland, "Christian should be along here soo- oh, there he is getting into the carriage now." Sure enough, there was a man around the Hatter's age, with a scruffy beard the color of moss, climbing aboard the coach. The boy, Remy, instantaneously calmed down and climbed into his father's lap, pulling off his cap and placing it on his own head. Tarrant waved from his perch on the Bandersnatch to his family, and they all waved back.

Seeing Christian and his wife and son made me wonder…who _else_ had survived the devastating inferno? Had _Luna_ made it out alive? Was she here, somewhere? Then, the other, not so positive questions came to mind; was she married to someone else? Did she have kids? Does she think that Ilosovic was with the Red Queen in the Outlands?

I was brought out of my reverie by him riding up beside us, his form slightly unfamiliar in a waistcoat, jacket, and black slacks instead of his usual chainmail and thick grey cape. He even had an ornamental walking cane where his sword would've been, and his boots had been replaced with what I could only describe as church shoes.

He must've seen me staring absentmindedly at him, "What?"

"You look…_different_…" his clothes contrasted so much with his light grey horse, but matched his dark hair almost perfectly.

"Is _**that**_ what they call it? This monkey suit is hot and itchy."

I rolled my eyes, "_Pffffft_! Oh _**waaah**_, cry me a river, pretty boy. At least you can walk properly in your outfit!"

"Barely!" he whined. I pretended to wipe away a few crocodile tears just to mess with him, and in return he mimicked the gesture with a sarcastic snigger. This bantering back and forth kept going until we reached the actual Portal, which took over an hour at the least. No one other than the two of us found it quite so amusing, but no one bothered to make us quit either.

By high noon we had reached the Garden in one piece and dismounted the carriages. Getting my dress out of the buggy was considerably easier than it was getting it in, but I nearly broke my ankle trying to jump from the steps.

"Jeez, baby, be careful!" Luke took my hand and helped me down, "Now don't you do anything crazy while you're up there…"

"What am I gonna do? I can't run too rampant because I have to keep up with _**them**_." I jerked my head towards Tarrant and Ilosovic, who were exchanging goodbyes with their families, "Gotta keep _**those**_ two out of trouble…who knows what they could get into _without_ my supervision?"

He eyed me skeptically, "I'm sure they could turn that statement around on you too."

"Very true…" I replied, "Don't worry; I'll try not to get into anything…if I can help it."

Before he could scold me again, Stayne and Tarrant called me to the entrance of the Portal; the rim of the fountain in the middle of the Garden. With one last kiss goodbye, I gathered up my skirts and trotted over to the edge of the knee-deep pool of water. From what I understood, we were supposed to jump in feet first, and we would then find ourselves standing in Victorian Age China. Yeah, _**that**_ seemed likely.

"Well, this is it…" the Knight of Hearts gulped, shuffling his feet nervously. His antsy behavior wasn't helping me settle down. What was he so worked up about?

"Yes, yes…it is. _Alice is coming home…_" the Mad Hatter was almost jumping for joy, on the other hand. He was ready to get his girl back, and tell her that he'd get to bring her home to his parents after all.

"You guys ready to go?" I was having mixed emotions, but I was mostly excited.

They nodded in unison. I took each one's arm, so that we were all linked together, and stepped up beside them, "Can we go Mirana?" calling over my shoulder, I hesitated to leap into the shallow fountain.

The White Queen smiled and shooed us off, "Go on now; run along."

Turning back, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and counted down from five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

Lift-off.


	4. Shipped to Shanghai

_**Chapter Three –**_

_**Shipped to Shanghai**_

My eyes slowly opened to a strange place. Sounds drifted into my ears that were foreign to me, and smells wafted through the air that I'd never smelled before. It felt colder than it had in Marmoreal, cold enough to snow possibly.

We had made it to China.

The three of us dropped hands and stared around us in wonder…there were enormous sailing ships all around us in the port, like the ones I'd only seen in pirate movies. Sadly, even the best cameras in Hollywood had failed to capture the true size of the boats; I had to crane my neck just to glimpse the tip top of the masts. The hulls were positively gigantic, bobbing through the steely grey waves like monstrous apples in a bucket.

"Oh…oh mah word…" when I spoke, it wasn't my voice that came out. It _**sounded**_ like me, but then again it didn't.

Stayne looked down at me, and I noticed that he wasn't nearly as tall as he was in Underland. He could've been around six foot or so, but he most definitely wasn't his normal seven and a half, "What'd you just say Allyson?"

"Ah _**said**_…" my eyes widened in horror, "Oh no…this _**cain't **_be!" I clapped my hand over my mouth. Tarrant was too distracted by the scenery to notice my predicament, but Ilosovic thought it highly entertaining that I sounded like Scarlett O'Hara from "_Gone with the Wind_".

"What's wrong? Accent got your tongue?" he nudged me with his cane, which earned him a beating with my hand-warmer.

"Oooh! You hush up Stayne! Not anotha _**word**_ outta you!" I wanted to scream so bad it wasn't even funny. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's Southern accents –or any accents, for that matter- that are this overly exaggerated, because we do _**not**_ all sound like that! Some of us, yeah, we do, but I know for a fact that I personally do _**not**_ talk this way! Well, not _usually_…

He was outright laughing now, having to hold his stomach so he wouldn't double over, "Yes _mayum_…" he mock-saluted and copied me all in one breath, "Hatter, are you hearing this?"

"It _**ain't**_ funny!"

"You're absolutely right; this is _**hilarious**_."

"Hush yowah mouth!"

Still not minding us one bit, the Hatter suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, as if he'd noticed something that wasn't there earlier. His neon green eyes locked onto it and it never escaped his gaze, even when he spoke to us, "There she is…over there…there's Alice!"

Sure enough, when I turned from threatening Stayne with a nearby shop display of parasols, I saw a head of curly blonde hair bouncing towards a ship with _the Wonder_ painted on her boards. Alice had aged a few years since her last visit, much like I had; she looked about twenty-three or twenty-four now. She was talking with an older Chinese gentleman who had several rolls of parchment tucked under his arms, and whose hat was slightly askew on his head. They could've been discussing important business or just chatting about the weather (_which was dreary, to say the least_), but either way, Alice seemed very enthusiastic about it. She was very adamant about whatever point she was trying to get across, and her companion didn't seem to disagree. The two of them disappeared into a small store, and we were left standing in the middle of the sidewalk, staring after her like a trio of lost puppies.

"Well," Stayne broke the silence, "we've found her. So how are we supposed to get her attention? "

"You mean…we didn't come up heyah with a plan?"

Both of them looked at me like _**I **_was the crazy one!

"No, but since _**you're**_ the master of improvisation, Miss Allyson, why don't _**you**_ come up with something?" Stayne remarked.

"_Ah_ neva _**claimed**_ to be any such thing. _You _only _**assumed**_ that ah am."

Tarrant turned serious abruptly, his eyes shifting from lime green to a reddish brown and his voice from a slight British to a heavy Scottish accent, "Waell lassie, yuh'd better think up somethin' quick, 'cause here sh'comes again…"

Alice had emerged from the shop, and now she was carrying some parchments and what looked like a handful of ink pens. She also had a bag that clinked and rattled that was clearly filled with tiny clay jars, and one filled with notebooks. For all her ambition and determination, she could sure use some extra hands…

"Don't fret, dear Hatter, ah've got an idea…" I did my best Vivienne Leigh eyebrow arch before indicating for them to huddle around me. I was beginning to like this whole Southern belle thing I had going on.

That's not a good sign.

The cobblestone streets of Shanghai were even harder to navigate when you were balancing very fragile objects in your hands and dangling from your arms. As graceful as I may be (_which isn't very, I'm afraid_), there was always the sense that I was about to just drop every bit of it. Of course, that wouldn't have surprised me in the least…I've been even more distracted here of late, even more so than usual. It seems to get worse with each passing year, like it's a progressive disease of some sort. I don't really mind it that much, but it does make traversing uneven terrain exceedingly difficult.

But what makes things like this much easier is the remarkable kindness of complete strangers…

"E-excuse me? Miss? " a young man approached me from up the street, offering his hand to take some items off of mine, "Do you need s-some assistance? " he stuttered, his bashful smile showing a small gap in his top front teeth.

His brilliant scarlet hair fell around his unnaturally green eyes in wild curls. A dark green felt hat perched atop his head, with some kind of card on one side, but I couldn't make out what it said. Just beneath his jacket, I caught a peep of several spools of thread hanging about his waist, but for some reason his ensemble didn't strike me as _**odd**_…it felt _**familiar**_ somehow…

"Oh…yes, thank you very much." He took the sack full of blank notebooks and some of the rolls of parchment in his arms and fell into step beside me, "What's your name, sir?"

He chuckled shyly, "No need to say sir, we're about the same age I expect…my name is Terrance Highton. I-I'm a hat maker…you see… Actually, I made the one I'm wearing."

"It's very lovely. I'm Alice Kingsleigh, by the way…I suppose you could call me the first mate of that ship over there;_ the Wonder_." I was supposed to be heading back to the boat, but my new friend had captured my interest, "This is my second trip here to China from London…what about you?"

"Oh, me? This is my first time…m-my family is from Cheshire."

Something in that name sparked a memory, buried deep within my mind, but I couldn't quite place it, "Your town is famous for the grinning cats, isn't it?"

Terrance laughed heartily at this, like there was some hidden meaning to my question. He agreed nonetheless, "Indeed, it is. Very famous for felines that can smile…I've actually _seen_ one before, believe it or not! He was a great, grey and striped creature, and could grin from one ear to the other!"

_"What kind of creatures?" Father asked_

_ "Well; there's a Dodo Bird, a Rabbit in a waistcoat…a smiling cat…"I answered._

_ "I didn't know cats__** could**__ smile."_

_ "Neither did I. And…there's a blue caterpillar…"_

_"A __**blue**__ caterpillar…hmm…"_

The flashback hit me so suddenly that I almost dropped my things on the ground. Terrance caught me by the arm, trying to shake me out of the mysterious daydream. What had my father and I been talking about? Had I been running a fever, or was I simply delirious?

Was it a dream?

Unable to shake the strange feeling of déjà vu, I attempted to hide it with humor, "It seems to me that I recall seeing such a creature myself, when I was much younger… Does this cat have a habit of disappearing?"

He nodded again, "All the time. Gets rather bothersome during conversations." Terrance rolled his eyes as if this statement actually applied to a cat that he knew, and if it were completely normal to carry on conversations with house pets.

_But who am I to judge? I've spoken to Caterpillars and flowers, and chased White Rabbits in waistcoats, had tea with Mad Hatters, March Hares and Dormice, and have spoken to a smiling cat myself! Not to mention I rode a rather large beast whose name begins with Banner…or was it Bander? __**And**__ I've slain a terrible dragonesque monster with a cry of "Off with your head!"_

In my dreams at least…or, at least that what I _**think**_ happened. Surely I didn't _**really**_ do all that…did I?

Just as I was about to question my companion on any other unusual animals that he'd come across lately, someone else called out for his attention, "Terrance! _**Theyah**_ you ah! We've been looking _**everywheyah**_ for you!" a young girl -maybe eighteen or so- with dark hair and eyes in a bright crimson dress strode up to him. A man with long black hair and a faint scar over his left eye followed closely behind her, "Wheyah _**have**_ you been?"

Terrance whirled around, "Oh! Sorry Alyss, I was just helping Miss Kingsleigh here…"

"Your name is Alice too?" we stopped walking and I peeked around him to get a better look at her.

She smiled and nodded, "Yes, but _mah_ name is spelled differently than the _**traditional**_ way…mine is _A-l-y-s-s_." Alyss corrected me, reaching for the fountain pens and some of the parchment, "Heyah, let me take some of that off yowah hands…" She was clearly an American, and most definitely from the South. Their accents sounded very much like the way people back in England spoke, only slower and with their vowels more drawn out.

Their other friend was rather silent, but did introduce himself as Ivan Stanford, a fencing instructor (_and Alyss' cousin_) from New York. He lifted the bag of ink bottles from my hand, leaving me with a much lighter bundle of paper. He added that he was not, in fact, from New York City, but that he'd always wanted to go there at least once…and that's where their dilemma was.

"We had been staying in Cheshire with Terrance for a while, and we'd all decided that we wanted to visit the city together. We were supposed to take a ship to port there, but we got on the wrong boat and ended up on the other side of the globe." Ivan admitted sheepishly.

"That's dreadful! Do you have any way to get back?" I was appalled by their misfortune. They seemed like such wonderful characters; so friendly and kind…no one should be left this far from home with no way to get back where they belong.

Alyss shook her head gravely, "Ah'm afraid not. We haven't got the money to buy anymo' tickets." She looked very distressed and worried, and homesick to boot, "And no one knows we'ah heyah…ah live with Ivan and Terrance doesn't have many relatives that we could contact."

This is simply _**horrible**_! Could anything _**else **_befall these poor people? I wish there was _**some **_way I could help them get back home…

__Oh wait, I have a ship. Of course!

"I'll tell you what…our company is returning to England tomorrow evening. I could ask the captain if we can spare the room for the three of you." I offered, and to my joy, all three of their faces lit up immediately. They all thanked me repeatedly, and asked if they could treat me to a modest dinner at one of the local restaurants. It wouldn't be much, Terrance confessed, but he believed that it was the least they could do. Assuring him that I wouldn't mind it one bit, we all traipsed to the ship together to deposit my things and freshen up before heading out.

"Ah _**told**_ you it would work." Allyson primped herself in the bathroom mirror while I sat in a chair in the small bedroom she and Alice were sharing. The captain of _the Wonder_ had agreed to let us go back to England with them, and had given us rooms below deck. Tarrant, who had gone with Alice to speak with the captain, was roomed with me just down the hall from the girls. Not that it really mattered, since we wouldn't be staying long enough to need beds.

"Yeah, you _showah _did. I _neva_ should have doubted you." It was nearly impossible to resist poking fun at her voice change, especially since it got her dander up so badly. Her eyes narrowed in her reflection, but she didn't turn around to say anything back.

The Hatter soon returned and stuck his head in the door, "C'mon you two, we've got a date to go on!" he urged us into the hallway and outside.

Allyson grinned and whispered to me when he ran to catch up with Alice, "Ah think he means _**he**_ has a date to go awhn…_**yo'wah**_ just a third wheel and _**ah'm**_ the spare tire." She was trying desperately not to laugh out loud, but we were both failing miserably. Fortunately, our other two cohorts were too absorbed in conversation to notice our cackling.

After eating the best noodles I'd ever tasted and drinking some hot tea, the four of us waltzed around the town until night began to fall, three of us subtly dropping hints that would hopefully bring one's memories back. Tarrant told toned-down versions of his outrageous tea parties (_some of which I had attended myself_), Allyson reminded her of playing croquet with strange equipment shaped like animals and pilfering the delectable pastries known as tarts from a very irritable woman, and I was saddled with the subject of people of unusually small or large physiques (_go figure…_).

Her eyes held hidden recognition with each wild story, but she never let on that she really believed us. Perhaps she was in denial that we could've come looking for her after all this time, or that what she was recalling was nothing more than a fantasy. Regardless of what she thought at the moment, she wouldn't be able to deny a bit of it once she stepped through the Portal. Whether she remembered everything while still in Overland would be irrelevant then; she would get all of her memories back as soon as she set foot in Underland.

_Hopefully_.

Absolem had worried about the length of time that Alice had been absent, and the strength of the forgetfulness spell he had put on her. He and Mirana had both been concerned that simply returning her to our world wouldn't work to bring back every single detail of her last visit, and that extra steps would have to be taken so that everything wouldn't go all haywire. That on top of our current demonic debacle wasn't making this situation any less sticky, not to mention that the Butterfly again failed to mention these very important details to either of my traveling partners. The Hatter wouldn't take too kindly to not having this information, but his reaction couldn't hold a candle to how badly the youngest member of our quirky quartet would respond. To be _quite_ honest, I think she'd get mad if you threw her a surprise party and didn't tell _**her**_about it! Being left out of the loop must be her biggest pet peeve, because she sure does hit the roof when it happens.

Apparently my worriedness had tuned everything else out, because the next thing I heard over my distress was Allyson's drawl, "I do declare…Ivan ahre you even listening to me?"

I snapped out of it, "Huh? What is it? What?"

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "Ah was _**trying**_ to ask if you could take me back to the ship…it's getting late and ah'm about to freeze. Ah'm not built fo' this cold weatha." She shivered, despite the shawl around her shoulders and the muff wrapped around her hands. I could tell by the chattering in her teeth that this wasn't part of the act; she was really that cold.

"Oh! Oh yeah, c'mon, I'm getting cold too." The frigid air hit me suddenly, like I'd been plunged into a tub of ice water. I hadn't realized how chilly it had gotten once the sun had gone down; I guess all the self-tormenting I'd been doing had kept me distracted from the nip in the wind. The two of us bid the others goodnight (_they promised to be along soon after_) and began our trek back to the boat side by side, our heels clicking loudly in the growing quiet on the streets.

As soon as we were out of earshot, she glowered up at me and shook her head, "Mah, mah, mah…a bit sidetracked tonight, aren't we?" she scolded.

"Sorry, I'm just worried that something is going to go bad…things haven't exactly been peaches and cream here lately y'know…" I tugged my coat tighter around myself to help fend off the breeze. It didn't help much.

"Ah know… ah'm a little concerned mahself, but theyah's not a whole lot we can do." Her cheeks were rosy pink from exposure to the icy gusts, and her hair whipped wildly around her face, "We just have to stay calm is all…_Stayne_? " her voiced suddenly dropped to a whisper and she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Yeah?"

"Shh! _Do…do you feel like we'yah being followed?_" her eyes frantically searched mine.

I scanned the street for any other people besides us, Alice and Tarrant, and only saw a few shopkeepers closing up for the night and a woman with a baby stroller on the other side of the main road. Nothing seemed suspicious or out of place to me, so I shook my head.

She didn't buy it, "_Ah'm tellin' you, that lady ova theyah is giving me goose bumps…she's been trailin' us since we walked away from Alice and the Hatter._"

"She has?" never bothering to even look at the other side of the street, I hadn't noticed her until Allyson spoke up. Now that she mentions it, that is kind of odd…

But what really creeped us both out is that when we stole another glance in her direction, she had completely disappeared. There wasn't a trace left of our peculiar pursuer, or any indication that she'd been there to begin with.

Oh no…what if it was a demon? Had one slipped through the blocks on the Portal?

Grabbing Allyson by her elbow, I took off at a much quicker pace towards the ship, "Walk as fast as you can, we need to get back to your room so we can be closer to the Portal and get outta here. We have to make sure that wasn't a demon that we just saw."

"A _**demon**_?! Surely that wasn't a-" she stopped short again, looking dead ahead of us with a fixed expression of pure shock. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the woman had rematerialized just up the street from us, still pushing the carriage ahead of her. Her face was concealed by her enormous purple feathered hat, and her dress covered everything but her hands, which were a bronzy shade of brown. The nails on the tips of her gaunt fingers were pointed and hooked at the ends, almost like claws. She flashed us a smile that was unnaturally white and all sharp canine teeth. Her eyes were a vibrant blood red, her pupils catlike and slitted.

Prying my eyes away from the terrifying figure, I dared to look into the stroller at the baby she was carrying about. The pale child was apparently a little boy, judging by the blue blanket wrapped around him, with eyes as green as the Hatter's and hair so fair that it could've been white. He made no cooing noises or little gurgles like most infants I'd seen, he only stared up in confusion at his caretaker; he didn't seem happy at all. However, he wasn't crying or screaming either…

"Excuse me chil'…" the woman finally spoke, reaching down into the carriage, "I believe you dropped dis back dere…" she held out the silver locket that I'd given Allyson just before she'd left Underland. I hadn't even noticed that she had it on when we came here, and from the expression on her face, evidently she didn't notice it was gone.

"Oh! Um…thank you kindly ma'am… Ah would've missed this terribly if ah'd lost it!" she cautiously took the necklace from her and put it back around her neck, then quickly gazed down at the baby, "That's a precious little boy you have theyah…what's his name?"

"Bowie. 'im is not mine, 'e belong to a friend. She's gahn off on business, so I tek care of 'im 'til she get bahck." She replied, rocking the buggy gently back and forth, " 'im a sweet baby… neva cries or fuss. Always quiet…"

Well I'd be awfully silent too if I was being dragged around by a demon! It frightened me to wonder what this creature had done to the parents to get this child away from them; were they even still alive now? What was she going to do with the little boy? If it wasn't such a useless gesture, I would've contacted the police here in the city, but what could mere humans do against a being such as this? Nothing.

Allyson waved at the baby who, much to my surprise waved back, and then gave his babysitter a small curtsy, "Well we must be off, thank you again fo' finding mah necklace fo' me…goodnight!" she wrapped her fingers around my wrist and pulled me down the street to the ship.

She jerked the necklace over her head once we were out of sight, letting the chain pool in the palm of her hand, "Ah won't wear this anotha minute until Absolem or somebody checks it. Theyah could be a demon or something inside fo' all ah know." She wrapped the muff around her fist and continued to march down the lane with me in tow.

A sudden, horrible thought crossed my mind as we neared our destination, "You…you don't think that she's…going to find Alice and Tarrant, do you?"

She paused momentarily; looking back over her shoulder, then shook her head and kept walking, "Well she's gone now. If that's what she's doing, then we won't have time to beat her to them. We'll just have to stay here and hope that they'ah alright." We finally reached the platform that led up to the deck, and soon descended below it to the girls' room. Allyson wrenched the door open and scanned the room warily.

The Portal was already open, the surface of the Looking-Glass shimmering like water stirred by a breeze. Outlines of the people on the other side were faintly visible through the ripples, as was the shape of the fountain head towering over the pool we'd come through.

"We can't go through just yet; all four of us have to go through it at the same time. If we don't it'll close up and leave the two of them stranded."

She flopped down on the bed, her legs dangling off the side and her arms flung over her head. The hand-warmer was laid across her stomach but the possibly cursed necklace was still clutched in her fingers. She turned it over and over, inspecting the silver covering for any tampering, "Ok. Well, the necklace looks normal… but that don't mean a thing. If she did anything to it, it won't be obvious. Ah'm almost afraid to open the locket to check…"

Before I could assure her that this fear was totally justified, she pried the lid open slowly, revealing the heart-shaped clock that ticked away beneath. The hands on the clock face spun at their accelerated speed; this watch runs on Underland time, rather than Overland, so it goes faster than an ordinary watch. Nothing was scratched, bent, or broken. All seemed well…for the moment.

"Like ah said, it won't be anything obvious." She snapped it shut again, twirling it around her fingers idly. Relief washed over me; there wasn't anything malevolent in it this time. But what about the next time something like this happened? And the next? What then?

As we fell silent again, the floorboards outside the door began creaking and groaning with the weight of footsteps, and we both went rigid. She sat bolt upright on the bed, her eyes narrowed anxiously. I could hear my heart thudding violently in my chest as I reached for my concealed dagger…

The door swung open, and the two lovebirds trotted in, giggling and smiling like it was going out of style. I put the blade away before any of them could notice, reclining back into my chair with a heavy sigh.

"You all scared the life outta us!" Allyson scolded them. Her hand was clasped over her heart, so as to prevent it from leaping out of her chest. Even from where I was, it was evident that she was shaking like a leaf.

Alice quickly became concerned, "Is something wrong? Are you both alright?" she had quite the grip on the Hatter's arm, and she pulled him with her as she leaned forward.

"Not exactly…we had a rather frightening encounter on the way back here. Some woman followed us almost all the way from where we left you two, and then she just disappeared right in front of us." I replied.

"You mean…?" the Hatter started, but let his words trail off. He knew exactly what I meant, without even saying it.

"Like…a ghost?" Alice finished the thought, but using the incorrect supernatural being.

"Or worse…" Allyson corrected her. All four of us shuddered, "It's a good thing you came back when you did, or you might'a run into her yourselves."

"What did she look like?" they both asked in unison.

"She had blood red eyes, and claws instead of fingers, and really sharp teeth, and…" she sounded like she was describing some monster from a horror story, not something we'd just seen walking down the street, "she had a baby stroller. There was a little boy in it…ah don't know what she's gonna do with him, but ah wish theyah was something we could do to save him..."

"But she's gone now, and it's too late to hunt her down. Not that it would do any good."

"He's right." Tarrant agreed, "We'll be safer here anyway; I doubt anything would try to bother us here…" he pulled Alice closer to him, quietly assuring her that he would protect her. She wouldn't really need much guarding though; Alice could take care of herself just as well as any one of us.

Though I hardly believe the four of us together would be able to handle one of these monsters, seeing as none of us have any magical anti-demon powers…which would be nice right about now.

Alice laid her head on his shoulder, "I don't feel very safe now, knowing there's something lurking around outside…" his arm snaked around her waist, holding her even closer.

The gesture dredged up a memory from the depths of my mind, where I'd hidden most of my happy thoughts for many years…any thoughts of my parents, Luna, my life before Iracebeth had kidnapped me. I'd suppressed them for so long, and now this one was fighting to resurface, so I let it…

_The two of us were walking hand-in-hand through the forest where Chessur lived, the branches swaying in the evening breeze. The woods were even darker at twilight than they normally were, which greatly reduced our eyesight (on top of my left eye being patched up), and Luna was beginning to get worried. We were only twelve and thirteen at the time…_

_"I told you we never should've played hide and seek with those cheeky rascals! I knew they were going to run off and leave us!" she chided me for falling into her cousins' trap. Christian and Tarrant had coerced us into playing their game, and had left us out in Tulgey Wood all alone. I didn't mind being by myself with Luna, but she wasn't too happy about their method of giving us "quality time together"._

_"Relax Luna, we're almost home. It's not like they took us all the way to Gummer Slough and left us." I tried in vain to calm her down, but she was adamant that the two of them would rue the day they were born when she was done with them!_

_"Luckily for them…" she muttered, crossing her arms._

_I pulled her closer to me, coaxing a small smile out of her. Her pale arm wrapped around my waist, and mine held fast to her shoulders. The two of us were so entranced by one another that we barely even noticed the root that suddenly reached up and snatched our feet out from under us. We toppled to the ground, one on top of the other, both of us screaming out in surprise. I managed to land face-first in the dirt, but Luna had twisted around and landed on her back beside me._

_ "Loci! Are you ok?" unfazed by the fall, she leapt up and pulled me to my feet (which was exceedingly difficult because of the gangly limbs I hadn't grown into yet)._

_ I nodded, flipping my hair out of my face, "Never mind me, are you alright?" she didn't look hurt, but I couldn't help being concerned. _

_She rolled her eyes and nodded, "Yes, I'm fine. Hold on, you got some dirt on you…" she reached up to wipe it away with her thumb. Her fingers brushed my cheek clean, and even after the dust was gone, they lingered. They pushed my hair aside – again – and then her hands found their way to my shoulders, her silver eyes found their way into mine. One hand of mine stroked her lavender hair, turned nearly grey by the fading light, the other rested in the small of her back. We were only centimeters away, our foreheads pressing against each other…and she leaned forward first. Our lips met for a few brief moments, but before I could even comprehend the thought of pulling back, something else dragged us apart._

_The sound of clattering armor approaching, angry shouting…the Card soldiers had found me again._

_We jerked away from each other, startled by the sound of my pursuers. Not thinking of myself, or what would happen once they caught me, I demanded that Luna get herself home to safety before they found us. At first she had refused to budge from my side, but she eventually relented and fled into the forest, with one last look at me before she was out of sight. I had promised her that we'd see each other again, and that we would be together at last…one day…_

_I was such a liar. We never saw each other again._

"_Hello?! __**Stayne**__! Bad time to be daydreamin' dear!_" Allyson derailed my train of thought with a harsh whisper and a shaking shoulder, "_Ah you __**trying**__ to get left here? Let's go! Tarrant and Alice are about to head into the Portal!_" she tugged me out of my seat just as his foot broke the surface of the mirror. Alice looked like she was in a trance; taking slow, mechanical steps, her eyes never moving from his face, and their hands were clasped together while he led her through the Portal. They spoke in low murmurs, inaudible even in the quiet of the night.

In order to not be separated from them, I held one of Allyson's hands, and she took Alice's free hand in hers. Alice didn't even turn to look as she disappeared into the Looking-Glass, "Ah you ready Stayne?" Allyson's foot melted into the liquid surface, then her hand, her leg, her arm. I nodded when it reached past her shoulder, and she turned forward, allowing the Portal to consume the rest of her.

Taking a deep breath before following her, I closed my eyes and stepped blindly into the glass.


	5. Home Sweet Home

_**Chapter Four –**_

_**Home Sweet Home**_

When I opened my eyes again, the four of us were standing on the rim of the fountain we'd entered Overland from, still holding hands and holding our breath. Almost no time had passed while we were gone. Everyone was staring up at us expectantly, holding their breath too. Slowly the other three let out gasps and their eyes fluttered open; the boys smiled triumphantly, but Alice looked a little more surprised than anything. It wasn't until I peeked around her that I realized that the Hatter had transformed back into his normally abnormal-looking self, and so had Ilosovic.

She stared at him for a moment before speaking, "Ha…Hatter?" she asked, clearly puzzled by her current situation.

He nodded fervently, "Yes Alice. Do you…remember me? Like you promised you would? You said you'd never forget me…" I thought he was about to go on one of his incredibly long-winded ramblings, but she stopped him before he could start. And by 'stopped him', I mean she kissed him square on the mouth mid-sentence.

"How could I forget you when you left me with such a wonderful memory to hold onto? " she smiled up at him as they embraced and the rest of us cheered, "_I told you I'd be back again before you knew it_…"

"That wasn't quite quick enough for me love. If it'd been up to me, you'd have been back within the hour! If it took _**that**_ long! I don't know that I could've even waited _**that**_ long…it's been so _**dreadful**_ without you here, simply _**awful**_…" he went at it again, the words just rolling out of his mouth.

"Hatter-" she tried to cut him off once more, but he just kept going.

"Nothing was the same with you gone! It was like all the muchness in the world had left, and everything was empty. The tea didn't taste right; the bread and butter just fell apart…"

"_Hatter_?" I tried my luck at stopping him, but he didn't even notice. However, I noticed that my voice had reverted back to its usual drawl, and was no longer a Hollywood accent.

"Not to mention I had to kill Time again, and he wasn't too thrilled about it the second go-round. You'd think he'd just let it go, but apparently not…you know what interval he stopped at this time? Just _**before**_ tea time! I've hardly eaten since you left! Or slept for that matter…"

"_**Hatter**_!" Stayne attempted to get his attention, but that didn't work either.

He continued to prattle on, most of his speech not making any sense, until everyone else in the Garden grew weary of standing around listening to it, "**HATTER**_**!**_" every person within a twenty foot radius shouted. He jolted to a stop, like the yelling had startled him awake from a dream.

"Save some of it for the ride home, you'll have plenty of time to catch up then!" I reminded him that she was coming with us, not staying here or leaving us again.

"Allyson! You're here too?" she twisted around after she heard my voice. We shared a hug that nearly landed us both in the water behind us.

"Long time no see! Glad you could finally get back." We helped each other down from the pool's border to prevent ourselves from getting an unwanted bath. When Stayne's towering figure stepped off the wall, she immediately recognized him.

"Hello Ilosovic…have you managed to keep her out of trouble?" she nodded towards me jokingly.

He smirked, "She hasn't been here long enough to get into anything, but I've been trying my best since you left. Needless to say my work has been cut out for me…" he nudged my shoulder, so I stuck my tongue out at him.

"He's also been working on his sense of humor, as you can tell." I retorted, demonstrating that mine was still intact and in working order, "He's still a little rusty though. I've tried working with him, but he just won't listen."

"Yeah, yeah… Alright, let's get going, we've got a party to get to!" he herded us towards the carriages.

Alice was very flabbergasted and flattered that we were holding a ball just for her return, and insisted that she didn't see what the big deal was about it. She exchanged greetings with all of our old friends, and met a few of the new ones as well. Thorne hung back from the crowd around her, refusing to go anywhere near her. Lucky girl.

I climbed into the wagon with my other band members, who all started chattering and firing off questions at one time. I finally got them to quiet down enough for me to explain the whole escapade in a nutshell, omitting the run-in with the demon woman so Luke wouldn't flip his lid. My necklace was still clutched tightly in my hand, and would not be leaving that place until I could pass it along to Absolem.

"I wonder which carriage Alice is going to ride in?" Maccay thought aloud when I'd finished my tale. They had all hoped that she would get in with us so that they could meet her before we got to Marmoreal. I didn't have the chance to speculate before she climbed onto the back of the Bandersnatch with the Hatter.

"I guess she's riding back with her _man_…" C'Lee snickered, elbowing Mayo and Lucy on either side of her. Everybody joined in the giggling as the buggy lurched forward to follow the others back to the castle. Luke and I just rolled our eyes and laughed along with them, knowing that we always caught the same flak for any kind of affection that we showed each other. Not that it bothers us much; we've grown used to it by now.

"Has anybody in this cart ever been to a party down here before?" Matt reclined against the back of the seat, his arms crossed behind his head, "I've heard they get crazy…"

"Chyeah, I have. After Alice and I beat the Jabberwocky, the White Queen had a huge party, but it didn't get too wild. Not while I was there anyway…" Stayne had relayed some stories to me through Absolem about some of the partygoers' antics after I'd returned home, but the stories were so insane and off the wall that I let the end of that sentence dangle. My friends have imaginations, so they could use them just as well as I could.

"I guess they didn't want to traumatize you."

"_They_ didn't _**want**_ to? _**You **_all didn't give them a chance!"

"Point taken."

Evening was falling slowly when we crossed through the gates of Marmoreal, Alice's arms wrapped around me still. The Bandersnatch wasn't the most comfy ride, but she made it worthwhile.

"I can't believe I'm actually back. I was beginning to think I'd never see any of this again…or you…" she pulled me closer before we dismounted, "I've been having strange dreams lately; I dreamt that I could see all of you, and hear you, but I couldn't get to you. And then in another dream, there were mirrors all around me, but when I tried to touch them, they burst into millions of pieces…"

"Allyson said something similar to that earlier…maybe you should ask her about it." Swinging my leg over Fluffy's head, my arms stretched out as I helped her down off his back. She scratched him behind the ears and rubbed his nose, receiving an enthusiastic lick in return.

"Perhaps, but for now…" her arms went around me again, her head rested on my shoulder, "I just want to focus on the good things that have happened today."

"Would…I be one of those things?" I returned the hug, happy to have her with me again.

"Of course. _You're the best one so far_…"

Alice pulled back enough that we could look into each other's eyes, though neither of us said anything. We only gazed dreamily at other, smiling. There really wasn't anything I could say that would fit this situation, and evidently she was speechless too.

Our friends, on the other hand, still retained their voices, as they called out to us to come inside before it got dark.

Not wanting to be left out of the festivities, all of them being in her name after all, Alice pulled me into the palace ballroom to join with the others.

"Curse the fool who invented this infernal thing! Maccay, Amber, somebody get this corset off of me please! I can't reach the laces in the back." It had taken all of forty-five minutes to get the top layer of clothes off of myself, so that I could put my concert costume back on, and now I couldn't get the cussed thing undone. The shoes had been the first item of clothing to come off, and that had been an event in and of itself, even after the hoop cage had come off. I couldn't bend down far enough to reach the buckles on my boots because the corset was so snug!

C'Lee, the closest one to the washroom door, came to my rescue and finally allowed some air into my lungs. There were creases in my skin where the material had bound me too tightly, and as the blood flow returned, it felt like a billion ants were crawling all over my skin. I was all too glad to let my hair down too, shaking out the tension from it being pulled back all day.

As I zipped up my boots and retied the eyepatch behind my head, Rosalynn cracked the door open a bit and slid inside, followed by Jasmin, "You girls all ready?" they glanced around the room. The boys were already in the ballroom with everyone else; we'd decided to freshen up before we came back out, "We thought we'd walk you to the party. Seein' as how there are some rather unsavory characters about."

"If you mean that Thorne guy, I think we can handle him." Mayo replied, to which everyone laughed.

"Maybe they don't need an escort after all Rose." Mrs. Stayne chuckled, "I believe even that boy has the horse sense to let these girls alone."

Mrs. Hightopp didn't see it that way, "Don't insult a horse's intelligence like that Jazzie. They've never done anything to you!" she disappeared into the crowded hallway, with the rest of us trailing behind and laughing like a pack of hyenas. I'd thought it was impossible to find someone that was easier to pick on than Stayne, but boy was I dead wrong! What's even better is that everyone else sees the humor in it too, and it's not just me poking fun at him.

The two older women soon put on their masks and melded with their husbands into the dancers already on the floor. The whole crowd wore elaborate masquerade disguises in all the colors you could imagine, and then some! Beautiful gowns swished and swayed to waltzes and quadrilles. None of us knew where to begin, until the boys finally located us and we all took turns twirling around with one another. Our other friends; Stayne, Alice, the Hatter, both Tweedles, Mally, Chessur, Saleen and Elias appeared after one ridiculously long dance, accompanied by Tarrant's cousin and his wife. We'd all worn ourselves out a bit, and retreated to the refreshments table to refuel for the next round.

Despite my many reassurances, most of them were paranoid that someone had spiked the punch with pishsavler or slipped some Upelkuchen into the food, and were extremely cautious when they first sampled the buffet. I, on the other hand, knew from the lack of foul odor or overpowering sweet aroma that neither potions were present, and then proceeded to gulp down three goblets of whatever the drink was (_some bubbly lavender colored stuff from Snud_) and a ham sandwich with no crusts.

"I don't suppose any of you would be willing to dance the Lobster Quadrille, would you?" Ilosovic tipped back his glass and downed his second drink.

I'd always wanted to try it, but I'd never seen anyone else do it, so I had no clue what I was getting into when I volunteered. The rest of the band was too tired, as were most of the Underlanders.

"Wait, I thought the Gryphon or the Mock Turtle had to sing it…that everyone else who tried messed it up?" Lucy asked. In response, there was a loud gasp from the crowd.

We all turned toward the stage just in time to see Mirana ascend to the platform, with a great silver beast striding behind her, and a strange creature following after. The first animal was at least three feet taller than her, with the head of a bird and the body of a white lion. The second being had the head, tail and hind legs of a brown and white cow, while the front legs and body were that of a large turtle.

"I'm guessing that's them?" Tony stood to get a better view of the hulking animal.

Luke nodded; the Gryphon and Mock Turtle were the ones he stayed with, in the small portion of the Outlands desert that wasn't bone dry and blazing hot. They lived in an oasis that was extremely difficult to get to, even if you knew where it was. I envied that my boyfriend got to spend his visits sitting on a beach in the sun while I was stuck with the Grouchfly and surrounded by choking blue smoke and eternal dusky light. But hey, you can't win 'em all.

There was a microphone placed in the front-center stage, and the White Queen somehow managed to figure out how to work it without our help, "Oh…ahem. Ladies and gentlemen, children, and other assorted guests, may I present to you the Gryphon. He will be performing the Lobster Quadrille-" she was interrupted by a thundering cheer and applause, "…accompanied by the Mock Turtle and a few of our guests from Overland, the Wonderland Warriors." She finished, much to the band's surprise. Guess they didn't get the memo.

Chuckling, I shooed them to the platform, and then followed Ilosovic to the dance floor. Luckily, there was sheet music for them to go on, as most of them had never heard of the song before tonight.

"Well this puts a whole new meaning on '_dancing with myself_'." I remarked, reminding him that my costume was based on his old uniform.

"I thought that if a girl showed up to a party and saw somebody wearing the same thing that she'd be rather upset." He teased.

"That only applies to other girls that are wearing the same thing. And it doesn't bother me anyway…mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery." I replied smugly.

"I'm touched, really."

"Yeah, touched in the head maybe."

"Would you get outta here? Go get in your spot for the dance!"

Dodging yet another attempt to knock my hat askew, I jogged to the inner circle of ladies and took my place across from him. He rolled his eyes before standing between Tarrant and Christian, and that's when I noticed that Alice and Zada were on either side of me.

"Hello, Alice. I didn't expect to see you doing a quadrille."

She turned to me, her mask only covering her eyes and forehead, "I could say the same to you, Allyson."

Zada spoke up for the first time since I'd met her, "Have you ever done one before?" we weren't sure which of us she was addressing, but we both answered; Alice with a nod, me with a sheepish grin and a claim that I at least attempted some of the ones earlier this evening…which I had, but that didn't mean that they were _**successful**_ attempts by any stretch of the imagination.

"Good luck then. I'm not that great at it either."

"I guess that makes three of us then." Alice giggled.

Actually, judging by the looks on our partners' faces, make that six of us. I could also see the Tweedles partnered together, which would most likely end in a brouhaha over who stepped on whose toes first. Thankfully, Tony and Amber were sitting this one out, so as not to start an all-out riot.

"I'm surprised Tarrant's father isn't out here dancing. He's certainly got the energy for it!" Alice added. She wasn't wrong about that; we'd both seen that in person!

"Uncle Sam is awfully spry for a man his age," Zada admitted, "though I don't think Auntie Rose wants him doing figures after the _**last**_ ball they went to…" she sniggered.

"What happened?"

"Mention Nidarian ale and Mome Raths in the same sentence and you'll find out." and that was her final answer, besides her quiet laughter. The two of us could only imagine what connection the two things held, and every possible situation involving them that I could think of was quite hilarious.

When the commotion finally died down, the Gryphon cleared its throat, adjusting the microphone with a taloned paw, and began the song;

_"Will you walk a little faster?" said a whiting to a snail,_

_"There's a porpoise close behind us, and he's treading on my tail._

_See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance!_

_They are waiting on the shingle- will you come and join the dance? _

_Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance? _

_Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance? _

We advanced forward twice, until we took the hands of our partners, and then we spun around three times together before trading off to whoever was to our left. The next step was to take the two steps back, and then to kneel down in preparation for the next figure.

_"You can really have no notion how delightful it will be_

_When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters out to sea!"_

_But the snail replied "Too far, too far!" and gave a look askance-_

_Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance._

_Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance._

_Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join the dance__. _

This was the tricky part; whoever we were across from had to throw us into the air, and then catch us only moments later. The kneeling down bit is so we could get some extra lift when we're catapulted upwards, and our partners could have a little extra time to brace themselves. Not to mention the fliers had to perform a somersault in midair. Again, we trade off to the left, and take two steps backward.

_"What matters it how far we go?" his scaly friend replied._

_"There is another shore, you know, upon the other side._

_The further off from England, the nearer is to France-_

_Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance._

_Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance? _

_Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the dance? _

For a final time, we took two steps forward; our partners spin us twice before they form the outer circle with a bow, while I and the rest of the ladies seat ourselves in the floor as the inner circle. The music died away in the din of the crowd, and the Gryphon himself bowed before leaving the stage. The Mock Turtle attempted to scurry after him, but his cumbersome body got in the way.

As I pulled myself to my feet, I realized with a start that the last partner I held was none other than Arondight Thorne. Even under his ornate mask and elaborate cape, and despite the fact I'd only met him today, I'd recognize that cold sneer and those hard brown eyes anywhere. He boldly strode over, and bowed for a moment before speaking, "That was highly remarkable for your first Lobster Quadrille. I'm actually rather impressed." There was acid in his compliment, I could feel it seething out.

"Oh, thanks." I didn't bother to lift the eyepatch this time; he wasn't worth the effort, "You were alright too, I guess. I didn't even realize it was _**you**_ until I looked up." Nor did I bother to hide my distaste for his presence, even though to him it should've been obvious from earlier today. It couldn't hurt to remind him every once in awhile.

"I noticed that. It seems doubtful that you would've continued dancing if you had."

Sticking my chin up defiantly, I crossed my arms over my chest, "I don't let people I dislike get in the way of things that I enjoy."

His expression was one of mock surprise, "And here I thought we were getting along so well…"

"As much as I hate to disappoint," Ilosovic suddenly appeared at my side, "I don't see it that way." The two of them glared each other down heatedly, neither of them giving an inch.

"And I'm sure you'd know _**all**_ about getting along with _**her**_, wouldn't you? After all, if you can't _**beat**_ them, _join_ them, as the old saying goes." Thorne growled. Both of us were glowering at him now; nobody picks on Stayne about me beating him up but me.

Before I could form a retort, Mirana intervened, "If that is truly the case, Mr. Thorne, you had better hope that you will have the _**option**_ to join her as opposed to _**getting**_ beaten." She warned him before escorting me and the Knight of Hearts away from the Knight of Diamonds. We thanked her for running him off, and quickly returned to the party to find some of our friends.

Luke was the first one we came across, as he'd been looking for me since the dance had ended and the band had gotten off the stage, "Ah, there you are! I couldn't see you in the crowd…_**waaay**_ too many people in here."

It was a bit claustrophobic; I'll be the first to admit, "Could you see it good from the stage? The quadrille?" My good mood quickly returned as the thoughts of the dance came flooding back. The leftover adrenaline from my brief flight during the second figure was slowly ebbing away.

His face, whatever was visible beneath his mask, shifted from happy to worried in a split second, "Yeah I saw it. Why didn't you tell me you were going to be thrown into the air?!"

I rolled my eyes (_though there was only the one that was visible_), and took his hands in mine, "Honey, I swear on everything that I own, that I am completely fine. Nobody I danced with would have dropped me if they'd had to catch me. I promise."

Stayne tried to throw in, "Nobody but Thorne, anyhow." But I gestured like I was going to elbow him in the gut to shut him up. He quickly shut his trap, making the excuse that he was going to look for Alice and Tarrant and walking off.

No sooner was he out of sight than the rest of my band had swarmed around me, each talking excitedly about encountering the Gryphon for their first time. Lucy and C'Lee recounted that he was a very proper creature, a well-mannered beast if they'd ever met one, while Amber noted that he seemed very depressed in her opinion, but that it was a wise sort of sadness, like an old gentleman that had not known an easy life, but had learned from the one he had. Maccay, who'd been standing the closest to him during the performance, claimed that there were waves of cool air coming off of his feathered body, and that she was certain that it wasn't a draft that she was feeling. She'd felt it even when she walked around him offstage, when he'd been standing around and talking to them.

Luke, who'd been hanging around with the enormous animal and the equally large Mock Turtle since he was very young, confirmed all their descriptions. He elaborated on what Amber had said, moaning and groaning about having to listen to endless bouts of sobbing during stories and conversations with the both of them. No one knew why they cried so much, but they were highly infamous for it, and for all the wisdom they supposedly held (_they were allegedly as old as Absolem himself_) it was almost impossible to get it out of either of them without them bursting into tears.

It was beginning to become evident to me, on the other hand, that getting information out of anything down here that wasn't human but could talk was exceedingly difficult in any circumstances.

Absolem, speak of the devil, fluttered out of the swaying mass of dancers and alighted on the brim of my hat again. His tiny face was solemn, his wings didn't beat very fast; something was clearly very wrong.

"What is it Absolem? What's wrong?" I reached up with my index finger and let the Butterfly crawl onto it.

He sighed heavily, letting his wings fall still, "Something is draining the power from the Portal you all came through…we're worried it might close with you still here."

It didn't take long for what he meant to sink in.

"I'm so terribly sorry you all have to leave so suddenly. We've tried to fix the Portal, but nothing seems to be working-"

"It's alright your majesty. It's fine." Allyson cut Mirana off before she could go on. It didn't look like she was fine with it to me, but her tone insisted not to press the matter. Her mouth was set in a thin line, her eyes were slightly narrowed in annoyance, and her arms were crossed impatiently.

Absolem was perched at the top of the mirror, "Since the charms are wearing off, some time has passed while you were gone. It was only a few minutes, however, and your party guests believe that you haven't started your concert yet. No one there remembers the demon attack, you will be the only ones there that do."

"I wish we could forget it too…" one of the twins, C'Lee I believe, remarked. Her sister put her arm around her shoulders. All ten of them seemed to agree; no one wanted those images to haunt them ever again.

The band bid all their friends Fairfarren, all hoping and promising that they would soon return to our world. We all knew, Overlanders and Underlanders alike, that these promises would be harder to keep than they ever have been, thanks to these mysterious smoke creatures and whoever or whatever is controlling them. If it weren't for that, these kids could stay as long as they wanted, even after the party had ended. They could stay forever if they so chose.

Now they may never get the chance to stay at all. We might never see any of them ever again…and they don't even know it.

None of us were allowed to even suggest that possibility to any of them; there was no need to frighten them any further, no need to warn them that they may lose this world permanently should anything else go wrong. All but one of them believed that our problem would be easily fixed. Allyson knew better. I could see it in her eyes, beyond the irritation and tension, there was fear. She was scared to leave.

She said her goodbyes last, perhaps hoping to prolong their departure just a little while longer. Though Thorne was nowhere in sight, the other two Knights embraced their fellow warrior, and wondered if she'd come see them sometime. She said she would whenever she got the chance. McTwisp was reminded to keep his pocket watch wound properly, so that the time would always be right. Her request that the March Hare not throw anything at her on the way out was met by a flying teacup, but Mally vowed not to make war with her foot every time she walked by. Tweedledee and Dum fought over who would tell her goodbye first. Chessur faded into thin air, the vapor swimming around her head until all she could see where his eyes, which soon disappeared with a _puff_! My parents and the Hatter's were glad to have met her, and looked forward to seeing her after this all blew over. She curtsied to the Kings and Queen Rubi, but Mirana would have none of this formal business; the White Queen pulled her into a surprise hug and kissed her forehead lightly, while warning her to be very careful. Allyson promised she would, before turning to me, "I guess this is it then…" she said, smiling humorlessly. The false smile fell away quickly as she came forward.

I knelt down to put my arms around her, and tried to assure her that this wasn't the end, "For now…don't worry, we'll get this sorted out."

"_You don't know that._" She hissed under her breath. When we pulled apart, her eyes were glassy, and a single tear was trailing down her face.

"You don't know that we won't. Have a little faith."

"If you say so…" she huffed skeptically, "Be careful while I'm gone, ok?" she brushed her tears away, even as they kept pouring out. I nodded. She moved on to the Hatter.

"N-n-nnow don't cry! Don't you do it!" he scolded her, "Look here, look…if you stop crying, I'll…uh…I will personally make you a hat! Your very own Hightopp hat!"

She laughed through the crying, "Really?" she sniffled.

"Yes, of course! You can wear it whenever and wherever you like!" Tarrant nearly smothered the poor girl in a hug, almost knocking the hat she already had on off her head. She tried to hug him back, but the way he was holding her, her arms were trapped at her sides, "Be careful while you're gone, we all want you to come back as soon as you can…"

She mumbled, "Mmhmm." Unable to get enough breath to actually say anything. When he finally released her, she gasped for air and teetered over to Alice, the last in line.

Allyson wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks and sniffed, "You still gonna be here when I get back Alice?" this question had been lingering in the air for awhile now, though no one had bothered to ask it.

There was absolutely no hesitation in Alice's voice when she replied with a conclusive, "Yes." And Allyson's face lit up immediately, "I've decided to stay here; Overland didn't feel quite right after I came back to it, I always felt like something was missing. But now I've found what I was looking for, now I'm home." She glanced shyly at the Hatter, thinking nobody saw, and took his hand in hers. I don't think I've ever seen the colors on him any brighter than they were in that moment. Besides when she kissed him, that is.

"I wish I could stay too, but it's just not the right time." Allyson sighed, hugging Alice briefly before joining her band members at the front of the Portal, "Maybe that time will come before long…" she waved goodbye with one arm, her other hand in Luke's as they lined up to return to their world.

Absolem was to lead them back through, so hopefully no demon attention would be attracted. He flew into the palm of her hand, waiting for the telltale shimmer on the surface of the Looking-Glass to signal that they could leave. When the time came, like prisoners being marched to their doom, the Wonderland Warriors trudged one by one into the Glass, each casting a long look behind them before disappearing.

Silence came over the group that surrounded the opening, and until Absolem returned, none of us went back to the party. Even when we did, none of us really felt like celebrating anymore.

We were safely on the other end of the Portal, the ten of us standing in the upstairs bathroom staring at our rippling reflections. The Butterfly had gone back to Underland almost as quickly as he'd ushered us through, which didn't give me the chance to tell him goodbye. Or to give him the necklace.

Great. Now I'm stuck with a probably possessed piece of jewelry. Just what I need.

Discarding the locket on the counter, I took a deep breath and looked over my fellow band members. They were all sullen and sulky, not a single one was smiling in the least.

"Well, we can't just stand around here all night guys. The show must go on." My pep talk failed miserably, but they knew that we had a concert to do. Tony and Sam did touch-ups on our hair and makeup, Amber readjusted our outfits, and Luke manned the sound booth.

There was just enough motivation in my speech to propel us to the stage and in front of the teeming crowd of partiers, and to dredge up my cliché vampire voice from earlier this evening, "Good evening, goblins and ghouls…"


	6. The Joining of Two Worlds

_**Chapter Five –**_

_**The Joining of Two Worlds**_

_**T**_wo weeks had dragged by since we'd been unceremoniously booted out of Alice's "welcome home" party by a bunch of paranormal activity, and to my knowledge no more has occurred since then! Everything went back to normal, according to Absolem, the very next day, and the pesky poltergeists haven't butted in up here as of yet either. The Portals are all in working order, and nothing's come or gone from any of them that we're aware of. I'm beginning to wonder if there ever was really anything wrong in the first place, or if somebody was playing some kind of sick practical joke on us.

"No, I'm afraid those demons were very _**real**_, and very _**dangerous**_." The Butterfly corrected my theory, "We still haven't figured out who sent them, or why they would target you and your friends…"

"_**I'm **_very real and very dangerous." I chuckled, then shrugged and sprawled out over the mushroom we had been sitting on, "Could've been anybody…and besides, if it _**had **_been a joke, it would've been _**funny **_at some point."

He nodded in agreement, "Perhaps someone did find amusement in it…but they'd have to have a very warped sense of humor." Had I been in a foul mood, I could've remarked that _**he **_seemed to have one himself, but under the circumstances I felt pretty good.

After all, my birthday was about a week away, and I hoped that everything had settled down enough for me to have some sort of party in Underland with my friends. Lucy and C'Lee's birthday had only been a few days after the Halloween incident, so they hadn't even bothered to ask if they could celebrate down here. The Tweedles had been kind enough to make the Twins a pair of sweaters with their names on them (_granted they were extremely itchy and hardly fit them at all, but it's the thought that counts_) and were able to pass them along to me for delivery. Not being the impolite sort, the girls took the presents and wore them occasionally, just not outside of their house. The explanation they gave their parents as to the origin of their birthday gifts was that they'd made them for each other, and apparently they bought that story.

"I don't think _'warped' _quite covers whatever sense of humor that whole situation would fall under. That would be an understatement." Yawning, I rolled over again and peeled the Oraculum open to go back over the last few days. Keeping tabs on Alice and the others for the past few days had helped greatly to distract me from the demon attack; she and Tarrant had spent an awful lot of time together since she got home.

Usually, they could be found by the small stream that ran beside his house, her dress hiked up to her knees and both of their shoes discarded on the banks. Or they'd be lying in the grass near it, side by side, just talking and laughing. Often at night, they would curl up on his small sofa with a book, and read to each other until she fell asleep in his arms. Their words were not written on the piece of parchment before me, but the illustrations of them had nothing but love written in their eyes. Any fool could see it.

Absolem had even let me visit them a few times, the first time I'd ever been allowed to leave the Mushroom forest during my dreams. He'd even come along with me once or twice, and we'd made an afternoon of it (_it was nighttime in our world at the time, however_). In that time frame, I started to notice gradual changes in Alice's appearance…her lips were darker and rosy pink, her eyes had shifted from pale hazel to a bright shade of fuchsia, her hair was no longer dirty blonde, but was now truly yellow, her eyelashes and her already light skin were both snowy white. Absolem explained that this was occurring due to the fact that she was around the Hatter so much, and that he'd started up his hat making business again. He said that whatever had turned his hair and skin different colors was now affecting hers, and that it was only a matter of time before colorful patches like the ones around his eyes and his cheeks would appear on her. We got into several heated discussions over what colors hers would be, though neither of us ended up being right.

However, there was _**one**_ thing we'd both seen eye to eye on that soon came to be…

We'd been talking about the eminent event from the very day I returned to the fungi-filled forest; the both of us knew it was coming sooner rather than later. The matter of debate was when it would happen. Stayne was the bearer of the news, and came galloping in at full speed, grinning like a fool all the while. He didn't even have to speak for us to know what he was coming to tell us, but we let him say it anyway, "Tarrant just asked Alice to marry him, just yesterday…and she said yes!"

I wore a smile to rival his, "Well _**of**_ _**course**_ she said yes! And if this happened _**yesterday**_, why didn't you come then?! I was here!" the laughter in my voice didn't really reinforce the scolding, but I couldn't help it.

"Sorry, I had to send out messengers to the other kingdoms to let them know, and by the time that was over you were already back home. There's going to be a huge party after the ceremony, by the way, so be expecting your invitations soon."

"Wait…the other kingdoms are all coming back to Marmoreal? They _**just**_ left!"

Absolem rolled the Oraculum up and placed it in its hiding spot, "This is the first time an Overlander and Underlander have gotten married in several centuries; I don't think anyone who can spare the time would want to miss such an occasion."

I know _**I**_ wouldn't miss it for anything! My birthday could wait; I'd have another one next year anyway. You only get to see the wedding of the millennium once in your life, after all, "Have they set a date for the wedding?"

Stayne shook his head, "They weren't very specific when they said '_as soon as the last stitch is in her dress and not a moment later_'. There's a tailor that's supposed to be coming tomorrow I think, all the way from Snud, to help with the ceremonial garb and whatnot."

The Butterfly, at the mention of the tailor's arrival, had a strange gleam in his eye that I'd seen many times before. He knew something that neither of us did, and he wasn't about to tell us what it was either. No matter how much I would later beg, plead, and beseech him, his lips would remain sealed. Ilosovic must not have noticed, or was simply brushing it off, as he didn't say anything or cast me any confused glances.

"What about the bridesmaids' dresses and the groomsmen's' suits? Is the tailor doing them too?" he hadn't mentioned them, but I assumed that they would be handling that as well. His answer surprised me, however.

"Nope. Alice figured since _**you're**_ going to be wearing them, you and your friends could design them yourselves. She loved your costumes at the ball, so she thinks you could handle something as simple as gowns and a few suits." He seemed pretty confident in this assumption too, and justifiably so. Our outfits had been pretty freakin' amazing, if I do say so myself. And I do, of course.

Looks like Amber and I will have our hands full for the next few days.

Bidding us fairfarren, the Knight of Hearts did an about-face and disappeared into the swirl of blue smoke and mushroom caps, his grey cape flying out behind him. I waited for the thud of his stallion's hooves to die away before I turned to Absolem and stood up.

"I guess I'd better get going then, I've got measurements and whatnot to do, and I've got to make some phone calls." Using the silver bracelets that allowed me to handle the Oraculum, I could also conjure the beginnings of a path between my room and the Mushroom Forest. The Butterfly still had to help sometimes, but since all this freaky demon mess started, he thought he should teach me how to make a temporary Portal in case I needed to make a sudden getaway.

It was harder than usual to focus because of all the excitement buzzing around my head, but with a little assistance, I managed to create the vortex around me that would essentially teleport me back to my bedroom. The smoke from his hookah got sucked up into the funnel, forming a blue tornado that swept me out of the warm night down below and into the brisk November morning up top.

By the time the pizza we ordered arrived, the floor of my drawing room was littered with a billion paper balls, Prisma colored pencils, and a veritable assortment of sewing tools and fabric. I had gathered the whole group together, so that everyone would have a say in the design of the clothing.

The boys didn't really have much to worry about, all they would be wearing is a tux and and a waistcoat that we'd bought and altered. The jackets were a deep, dark blue, the vests underneath was slightly lighter, and the pants we found were periwinkle. Their shoes and bow ties were shiny black.

Us girls, however, are much more complicated creatures, and are highly particular about our attire. Amber threw out at _**least**_ thirty possible designs before she was satisfied with the neckline and sleeves, and twenty more to figure out the length of the skirts. Some of the shorter ones were rejected simply because we didn't want to give the more conservatively dressed Underlanders heart attacks. They still lived in the nineteenth century, and I'm pretty positive that anything too far above the _**ankle**_ would be considered scandalous, even by their somewhat lenient standards. Our shoes were simple black heels, since no one would see them anyway. Fingerless gloves were added to the bridesmaids' dress sketch, along with a velvet choker, bows and lace, and a multi-colored pearl headband, but we hadn't even started on the maid of honor's gown yet. We had no idea who she would be, nor did we know who the other maids were, if there were any others. The only suits we'd done were the four for our boys, but there were most likely a few other groomsmen too, and with my luck it would be Ilosovic or someone else with _**ridiculous**_ proportions. If that becomes the case, we may have to resort to drastic measures, and cut off his absurdly long legs and arms so that he was the same height as the rest of them. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, if someone short like the Tweedles, or even the March Hare or McTwisp is a groomsman (_er, animal…_) we might have to build them stilts.

And Heaven forbid _**Mallymkun**_ be involved. I have _**dolls**_ bigger than her that I couldn't sew dresses for if I tried…and I sincerely doubt that I could wrestle her into one anyhow.

"How does that crazy bug think we're gonna finish this if we don't have everyone here?" Amber moaned, "I don't know about _**you**_, but _**I**_ can't do measurements without anything to measure."

I shrugged, guarding my pepperoni from the sneaky clutches of my boyfriend, who could've very well gotten his own slice and let mine be, "_**Excuse**_you! There's two more boxes over there Luke, so keep your mitts off _**my**_piece." I playfully snapped my teeth at him, holding the pizza far out of his reach, "I don't know Amber, maybe he thinks we should just wing it and hope it fits. _**Hey**_!" unwittingly, I had held my slice of pie just in front of Maccay, and she'd taken a bite out of it while I wasn't watching. We all burst into laughter, especially after I ripped off the end of her breadstick and wolfed it down before she could react. This resulted in a paper ball war that spanned the entire room, and eventually we decided to take a break from the designing and head downstairs to chill for a bit.

Matt and Sam grabbed the remaining pizza and soda bottles, leaving the empty ones to be thrown away when we returned, while C'Lee lagged behind to organize the drawing utensils into the order of a rainbow in their box. When she was content with her work, she waded through the sea of crushed paper to join us in the hallway. She didn't get past my bathroom door, however, before stopping and cracking it open. Upon sticking her head inside, she motioned for us to be quiet, "_**Shh**_! Allyson, c'mere, it sounds like someone's in the mirror again. They're tapping on it."

Using my best ninja tiptoeing skills, I silently climbed the stairs again and slipped inside under cover of slight darkness. No person or creature was to be seen when I flipped the light on, but there was a _present_ present. Sitting on the counter inbetween the sinks was a strangely shaped red top hat, with all manner of black and white feathers protruding from the hat band. Holding the black ribbon embroidered with roses in place was a metal heart pin, shaped like the ones on my Halloween costume, and attached to it by a string was a rolled up piece of parchment. I unraveled the note and read it aloud;

_Dear Allyson,_

_Sorry about not getting you the list of the other bridesmaids and groomsmen; that silly Ilosovic was so excited to tell you about the engagement that he ran off without it! You'd think it was him getting married! Ha! At any rate, Tarrant and I just wanted to get you a little something for your birthday coming up, and he did promise you a hat after all. Hope you like it!_

_Sincerely,_

_Soon-to-be Mrs. Alice Hightopp_

_P.s. – the list of measurements is enclosed along with this letter. Absolem did the very last one of the bridesmaids and the flower girl, but gave me no name for either of them. It was rather strange… Have fun with these outfits though! And good luck!_

Sure enough, another roll of parchment fell from beneath the hat when I picked it up, everyone's measurements written neatly under their names. Guess whose names were on each list?

Ilosovic was the best man. Mallymkun was one of the bridesmaids.

Wonderful. Two impossible things after lunch.

I groaned and read off the rest of the list. Just as Alice's note had mentioned, there were two sets of numbers at the bottom of the page with no name beside them. None of us could figure out who they belonged to, as no one we knew was small enough to match the flower girl, or close to the same size as the mystery bridesmaid. There was one question that had been bugging us that was finally answered, on the other hand…

The maid of honor was me.

"You think she's gotten our gift yet, dear?" Tarrant asked from the balcony of my room in Mirana's castle. His back was to me, but I could hear my fiancé's smile in his voice, "I didn't linger long enough for her to see me, or for me to see her."

"Most likely. It certainly won't go unnoticed." The hat he'd made definitely suited her; it was dark, and odd, but still pretty, "I hope she won't mind being maid of honor…do you think I should've asked her?" while there was no fear that she wasn't used to standing in front of hundreds of people, somehow I thought she may want a break from it for once.

He stepped back inside, pulling me from my chair to embrace me and whispered quietly, "Of course, love. She's probably running about the house now, screaming to all her friends about it, wondering if they're jealous." He grinned before kissing my forehead.

I giggled, feeling the blush coming to my cheeks, "Hmm, I wonder if any of them are jealous of _me_?" I tilted my head to one side and winked at my future husband.

The Hatter seemed to ponder this for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing thoughtfully, "I don't see why not. Any girl would be jealous of someone with as much muchness as you, not to mention bravery…and _beauty_ of course." Now his cheeks were flushed too, but he was still smiling.

"That's not what I meant. I wonder if they're jealous that I'm marrying the man of my crazy, mad, wonderful dreams?" kissing him lightly, I laced our fingers together at our sides. Hamish Ascot may not have been the right one for me, but Tarrant Hightopp most definitely _**was**_. There was _**no**_ doubt about that at all.

He struggled to keep a straight face, "Well, in _**that**_ case, perhaps _Mayo_ is…" neither of us could stop laughing after that, thinking of the other Wonderland Warrior who'd come and gone from our home for the past few days. She'd been staying with Tarrant during her visits since she was a child, but she was happy to get better acquainted with me as well. She was over the moon upon learning of our engagement, though she wasn't the first of their "band" to find out. The poor thing had burst into tears of joy at one point, and it took several minutes to calm her down.

As our laughter died down a bit, the whinny of horses could be heard coming across the drawbridge, pulling a coach behind them. That must be the tailor that's come to make my wedding gown and Tarrant's suit…

I had always thought that I'd have to wear my mother's wedding dress when I got married, but with no way to get her or it down here, I was actually going to get my own. I was also under the impression that my father would walk me down the aisle, but that wouldn't happen either. Though I missed both of my parents and my sister Margaret dearly, this is the life that I have chosen…and if I had the chance to go back, nothing would change. _**This**_ is where I belong.

"Perhaps we should go speak with the seamstress now. I shouldn't want to delay our wedding _**any**_ longer than necessary…" the Hatter led me out of the door, one arm around my waist, to the courtyard.

I heard the carriage before I saw it, the wheels creaking and the horses' feet clicking against the cobblestone. Dad and I had been out back dueling for most of the morning; there were _**several**_ years of training from him that I'd missed, but now we had all the time in the world to catch up on it, and other things too. He told me all about living in Queast, the Diamond queendom, and about how they'd found Samuel and Rosalynn just a few years ago while they were traveling to Snud. They'd found a small handful of others that had survived the years after the Horunvendush fire, but despite the fact that most of Tarrant's family had actually made it out alive…there was still no sign of Luna. No one had heard from her or seen her since that day.

She was really gone. She wasn't coming back.

Cradling my sore arm, I followed him towards the door of the castle where Tarrant and Alice were emerging, hand in hand as always. How I envied them, how I wish that were me and Luna… It _**could've**_ been, someday, if it hadn't been for that blasted Red Queen and her stupidity and stubbornness! If she'd just let me go, let me stay with my family, Luna and I could've been _**happy**_ together… we could've gotten married, could've had children of our own eventually.

But _**no**_, she had to have me all to herself…and if _**she**_ couldn't, no one could.

Still musing about the injustice of it all, I failed to notice when a small body bumped into my leg until the voice that went with it cried out, "Oh! I'm sowwy sir, I didn't see you there…" a little girl with azure eyes and mauve hair gazed up at me from just below my knee. She couldn't have been more than four or five years old.

"That's alright…say, where'd you come from? I haven't seen you around here before." There had been many children here the night that Alice returned, but few of them were as young as this one was. Christian's son Remy was about the same age, maybe a little older.

"I just came in with my mummy and sister. Mum's going to make a dress for a lady here." She said, turning towards the carriage that sat in the courtyard. An even smaller girl, barely out of infanthood, stood next to the wheel. She had curly blue hair and bright pink eyes, and only four little teeth, "_**My**_ name is Madalya, and _**that's**_ Ezrabeth. What's yours?" Madalya stuck up her hand as far as she could reach, and I still had to lean down to take it.

"Ilosovic. So your mother is the seamstress for Alice's wedding, is she?" I silently watched as the woman descended from the coach with several bags under her arms. She laid most of them at her feet to scoop up her youngest daughter, and to greet the Hatter and his wife-to-be. As she turned, his face suddenly changed and he said something to her, while Alice stood at his side, confused. Madalya's mother jumped, as if she'd been shocked, and then broke into a smile. Clearly they'd recognized each other from somewhere, but I didn't have the slightest clue as to where. Even Alice knew who she was, so she was obviously someone who she'd met when we were children. No one I remembered from Crims or anyone in Marmoreal looked like this; she had lavender hair down to her waist, and silver-grey eyes that shone like sunlight on water.

It wasn't until she started looking for her eldest child, and our eyes met that I realized who was standing mere feet from me…

And my heart nearly stopped.

After watching almost every movie I owned, several more hours of doodling, goofing off, brainstorming, and polishing off the last slice of pizza, we still hadn't come up with so much as a _sketch_ for my maid of honor dress. Everything we'd come up with looked and/or sounded completely ridiculous, or would've been impossible to recreate with our limited skills. Several times, I had to remind Amber that my dress couldn't be showy and distracting; _I_ wasn't the one getting married! Upon making such statements, I was promptly met with a paper ball to the forehead, most of which I managed to swat away or throw back. We eventually just redrew the bridesmaids' dress in a lighter blue, and made the fingerless gloves into the sleeves. A few extra bows were tacked on, the choker was changed slightly, and little ribbons were added to the headband. The fun part of actually making my dress, along with the remaining bridesmaids and groomsmen, would have to wait until tomorrow. It was already well past midnight here, and most of us were fighting to stay awake.

Knowing this would be a possibility, everyone had come prepared to spend the night, bringing overnight bags filled with pajamas and clothes for the next day. Ten toothbrushes were lined up around my sink, each one a different color or brand, in ten cups. Combs and hairbrushes were strewn about the counter as well, along with contacts, retainers and the like. They'd all just moved in, and would just as quickly pack up and move out. At some point, we'd actually contemplated all of us moving into one big house together, and divvying up the bills, but then we realized that the likelihood of finding a single home built for ten or more people would be slim to none. We settled for migrating from one of our homes to another.

After changing clothes and laying out pallets in the floor of the drawing room for the boys (_my room wasn't big enough for everyone_), I kissed Luke goodnight and led the girls into the bedroom to figure out our sleeping arrangements. Usually, about four of us could squeeze onto the bed, and the other two would blow up an air mattress; the problem was in the debate of who would get the bed and who wouldn't. Being the generous hostess that I was, I let everybody else get first dibs on the bed, while I claimed my post on the air mattress. A lengthy pillow fight tournament was held to determine who would win this privilege; Amber took the first victory, followed by Maccay, then Mayo, then Lucy. C'Lee was stuck with me.

We all laid there and chatted for awhile, until each of us gradually dropped off to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. Inside jokes were created out of our sleepy delirium that would be forgotten by the time we woke up, and limbs were stretched out over other bodies at angles that could only be achieved during the deepest level of exhaustion.

I was the last to shut my eyes, but they didn't close before noticing something strange…a light from inside my bathroom that hadn't been there earlier. Unfortunately, I didn't have the energy left to pull the covers off and walk over to investigate, so I just rolled over to face C'Lee and drifted into a dream that was filled with lavender roses on silver stems. I thought suddenly of Jack, the Ascots' oldest child, and Rosie's party. And the rose he'd tried to give me before I fell into Underland that day…wasn't it that color?

Hmm, that's strange.

The strangeness really began the following morning when I awoke, feeling a change in the air around me. Something had happened, and I was determined to find out what.

The others felt it too, "Is it just me, or is there something like…like it's hanging over us?" Maccay struggled to put words to what was going on, but she'd done the best out of all of us so far.

Matt nodded, "Do you think something's going on in Underland? Something _**bad**_?"

"We would _**know**_if it was bad." Lucy disagreed.

"_**Would**_we?" C'Lee countered. No one argued that point, not even her sister.

While they were discussing the uneasiness that we'd started our day off with, I was frantically searching the house for the measurements list that I knew I'd laid in my drawing room on the sketching table the night before. I'd gone to get it as soon as I'd rubbed the sleep from my eyes, but it was nowhere to be found.

"Alright, this isn't funny. Who has it?" I huffed, kicking the door shut behind me and startling everyone. There was no other logical explanation than that somebody took and hid it, but even that didn't make much sense, "I'm dead serious. _**Where**_is it?" tapping my foot impatiently, I waited for somebody to 'fess up.

All nine of them looked at me like I'd sprouted an extra head, "Why would any of us have it? _**You**_were the last one holding it, Allyson." Sam jumped to the group's defense.

"I _**know**_that; that's why it ought to be in the same place that I left it. But since it isn't-"

A knock at the mirror stopped me mid-sentence, "_You really need to do something about that temper of yours, y'know."_

"Ilosovic?" a gust of wind from the Portal blew the door open, and his head was clearly visible poking _**out**_of the mirror…_**all the way**_ out, "What're you doing here? Are you coming through?" everybody crowded around me at the threshold as he walked out of the Looking-Glass and transformed right before our eyes.

Ian Stanley was now standing less than three feet away, or at least that's what it would've looked like to someone outside of our band. Those few within the '_Warriors_' that had doubted my theory that Stayne was in fact our New York booking agent gasped and gawked at each other in sheer disbelief.

I just grinned, "Why, _Mr._ _Stanley_…how nice of you to drop in!"

He chuckled, "Please, just call me Ian." The Knight of Hearts dug around in his coat pocket and produced a roll of parchment, handing it to me, "I believe this is the sheet you were hunting for, is it not?" it was indeed the measurements, but why in the world did he have it? Something was _**definitely**_up now…he was smiling too much.

"How did you get this? It wasn't anywhere near a mirror last night!" giving the paper a once-over, nothing seemed to be amiss, but there was still something different about it.

Stayne rocked back on his heels and smirked, "Oh, these fine young gentlemen were kind enough to let me in your drawing room last night to retrieve it. There were some last minute adjustments that needed to be made."

All of the boys backed up as soon as I turned around, "Oh they _did_, did they?" in truth, I was mainly concerned that it could've been a demon that had come through instead of a friend, but it also irked me that this hadn't been mentioned until just now. It did explain what the four of them had been laughing about this morning though.

"He told us not to tell you…"

"And you _**listened**_to him?! What kind of anarchy are you trying to start here?!"

"He gave us tarts if we said that we wouldn't tell you."

Seriously Stayne? _**Tarts**_?

I hoped he had permission to give them away, and made sure to ask him about it. He replied that he did, as a matter of fact, and shot back that I wouldn't be getting any next time he came through either because he didn't like my attitude. Us ragging on each other would have continued for hours on end if Mayo hadn't cut in and inquired as to what kind of changes had been made that required a midnight visit to Overland.

He put on an air of not having the slightest idea of what I was talking about, insisting that I should reread the list to figure it out, and before we could badger him any further, he'd stepped back into the mirror and disappeared.

Doing as I was told, I unraveled the scroll again and carefully inspected every detail for alterations in the document. All of the names and numbers that had been there the day before were as they should've been, but where there had been two blank spaces at the end, there were two names above the measurements. The flower girl's wasn't familiar to any of us, but the mysterious bridesmaid had finally been revealed.

Luna was alive.

"What did she say?" Luna was waiting to greet me on the other side of the Portal in the sewing room. She was busy with Alice's wedding dress at the moment, and Tarrant's ceremonial kilt was already laid out. Her nimble fingers stopped pulling thread and her silver eyes looked up to meet my gaze expectantly.

"Sorry, my ears are still ringing from her screaming with joy. What was that now?"

She shook her head and smiled, "Never mind dear, I got the idea."

"I hope she can pull herself together when she actually sees you in person. Allyson tends to get a little _excited_ sometimes." I warned her, snatching my cape from the closing Portal. Those darn things had a habit of closing just a few seconds too soon, and the end of my cape always managed to get caught in them. I wasn't sure that '_excited _' was a qualified term for what she was sometimes, but it'll have to make do until one that fits better is created.

Luna giggled, returning to her needlework, "I'm sure if she can pull herself together enough to fight a dragon, she can handle meeting me. In case you haven't noticed, I am _**not**_, in fact, a dragon, nor any other beast in need of slaying. Last I checked, I wasn't nearly as intimidating as one either."

"Oh trust me; it's not her being _**shy**_ that I'm worried about." It was almost comical how out of character she was when my parents first spoke to her, but that bashfulness didn't last very long at all. Once she warmed up to somebody, it was like she'd known them her whole life.

"So I've heard. Alice was talking about her earlier." A devious grin spread across her face, "She told me how she got you out of Iracebeth's castle."

My face got warm, "The _whole_ story?"

"All the way until she left and Mirana filled in the rest."

I hung my head partially in shame, but mostly to hide the fact that I was laughing at myself; I should've known this was going to get back to her sooner or later. Luna, however, didn't even try to hide her laughter behind her hand, "You know, I thought to myself…you'd think he'd know how to fight off a girl that size after all those years of practice. Didn't I teach you _**anything**_, 'Loci?"

That was below the belt…but brutally honest. Needless to say I didn't have a comeback.

And she knew it, "Now, if you would be so kind as to not distract me…I have a dress to finish, darling." Her eyes had only once left the needle in her hands, but her progress hadn't slowed an inch.

"Oh, so now I'm _**distracting**_?" I hovered behind her, kneeling down so that we were level with each other. She didn't even turn her head.

"You've _**always**_been very distracting." My arms wound around her waist, and I let my head rest against her shoulder. She finally stopped working, taking my hands in hers, "I've missed your distractions…"

"I missed you too. I never thought I'd see you again Luna."

"You almost didn't. If Allyson hadn't brought you home, and I hadn't been out of town that night…" she paused, with a hitch in her breath, "The Jabberwocky got loose; he burned down the village that I'd been living in with the girls and their father. He died getting them out of our house…and they were left standing in the road, crying for me. Ezzie doesn't remember, but Mady has nightmares still." Luna choked back a sob, and I held her tighter. It killed me that she'd married someone else, that she'd thought I was so lost that she'd never find me again, but it was some consolation that whoever he was, he'd made her happy for a little while. And he'd given her her two daughters.

The baby, Ezrabeth, seemed to like me quite a bit. She had even walked to me earlier, and let me pick her up. The eldest girl, Madalya, however, avoided me whenever she could, and wouldn't even speak to her mother when I was around. Luna thought that she was under the impression that I was trying to replace her father, which I wasn't, though I would be more than happy to help Luna with the girls if she needed me to. We'd always talked about having a family together someday, but for years I thought that all hope for that had been turned to ash. Now, even though it wasn't, I wasn't sure that's what she wanted anymore.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry the only thing I ever gave you was that locket. If I had sense I would've given you a _**ring**_ instead of that necklace…I just never got the chance to-"

Suddenly, the door on the other end of the room slammed shut, and little feet could be heard dashing down the hall. Mady had been listening the whole time.

I slowly stood, reluctant to leave her side for even a short time, "You should go talk to her…I suppose I'll be going to bed now."

Luna shook her head, "She won't let me come near her. Not tonight. There wouldn't be any point in trying." She picked the remainder of the dress up and started back to sewing, "What ever happened to that chain, I wonder? I know I lost it during the fire…"

Taking a deep breath before answering, I spit it all out as fast as I could and hoped she wouldn't get angry, "Allyson has it. I gave it to her before she left."

She looked up and wiped her tears away, "Oh, that's alright then. I'm glad to know it's not lying in the grass rusting in Witzend…did she like it?"

Inwardly, I breathed a sigh of relief, "She wouldn't take it at first, because she knew it was yours…and who you were…but she wore it when we went to get Alice, and she's worn it quite a few other times."

Luna smiled, just a bit, "She can keep it, since you gave it to her. Besides…it really holds many more painful memories of those days than happy ones. It wouldn't be the same as when you gave it to me." She wasn't wrong about that. The locket had been the last birthday present I'd ever been able to give Luna; everything had gone downhill after that. Horunvendush Day came first, then Iracebeth had her husband killed right in front of me and everyone in the castle of Crims, I almost lost my eye to Thorne and only nicked his. Everyone thought I was either dead or a traitor, _**or**_ a dead traitor when I didn't come home after all that mess. Nothing much went my way for a long time.

"Alright, I'll try and find her when she arrives and tell her not to panic about it. She'll have a fit if I don't…" she was probably going to _anyway_, but it couldn't hurt to at least attempt to calm her down a little.

As I turned to actually leave this time, Luna called out to me when I was halfway down the hall, "You'd better practice your swordsmanship before she gets here! You don't want any repeat performances, now _**do**_ you?"

"Don't you have _**work**_ you should be doing?!"

Her laughter followed me down the long corridor to my room, and even after the door was closed, I could hear it still ringing through my head. I have never longed to hear a sound that most people take for granted more than I wanted to hear her voice, to see something that most wouldn't even give a second thought to as much as I wanted to see her face every day. Every day wouldn't be enough really, not even if it were for the rest of my life.

And now, hopefully, that's how long I would have her, however inadequate it may be…


	7. In Muchness and in Madness

_**Chapter Six –**_

_**In Muchness and in Madness**_

__All the dresses and suits had been put together and hung up in the back of my closet for tomorrow, the day we join everyone in Underland for the wedding. Tony and Sam's makeup and hair products were stored in duffle bags in the bathroom, waiting for their journey through the Looking-Glass too. We'd managed to keep our activities hidden very well from Mama, as she hadn't asked what all the fuss was about the past few days, nor had she inquired what our new attire was for. She assumed it was concert costumes that we were making, and so far that had worked for us. It's not like anyone here would notice us being gone for a few days, thanks to Time for not passing while we're away.

I wasn't sure what I was more excited about; Alice and Tarrant finally getting married, or the fact that Luna was there now, and that Ilosovic wouldn't be without her anymore. I often wondered what she would be like when I met her, and what she looks like now that she's all grown up…what her kids look like.

We're assuming, since no one's seen or heard anything contrariwise from below, that the flower girl, Madalya, is her daughter. There's no reason that her name would've been hidden if she wasn't related to her, or connected to her at least. The possibility that she has more than one child is very thought-provoking, as well as the question if she's been married or not. Any current marriage is totally out of the question, however, because Stayne most likely would _**not**_ have been very chipper when he came through the mirror if that had been the case.

Which then begs the question, what _**happened**_ to her husband?

Based on the way Ilosovic had described her, it wasn't very likely that she went the Red Queen route and had him beheaded and tossed into a moat, so the only other possibility was that the war the aforementioned queen had started with her sister had claimed him. The Jabberwocky had burned down much of Underland at the start of the hostilities, even going so far as to swoop into the other queen and kingdoms and torch whole villages for no reason. Not that Iracebeth would've cared.

The only part of that whole situation that I didn't understand was why the other rulers hadn't gotten involved in the dispute, especially since they had all been outright attacked during it. My initial reaction would've been to assemble the biggest army that I could supply with weapons and march on Salazen Grum the first time a single blade of my grass got singed, but perhaps that would've been a bit brash…

_**Nah**_.

I shrugged off my imaginary battle plans and took my earphones out, dropping my music device onto the floor. Tossing and turning for several minutes, I tried to get comfortable enough to fall asleep, but the air mattress wasn't aiding very much in that effort. Everybody else had been sleeping soundly since 10 or 11, but I'd made it all the way until 3 am without even dozing off. No matter what I did, sleep would not come to me. I was afraid that all my wiggling would wake C'Lee (_she lost the pillow war again_) and that she'd beat _**me**_ with the pillow, but she never budged, nor did any of the girls piled on the bed.

I sighed inwardly, cursing insomnia and trying to count sheep, but as I lay staring at my ceiling and finding the constellations in my glow-in-the-dark stars, there was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that something was lurking just out of my peripheral vision. Dark shadows would slink past the corner of my eye, just fast enough to evade my sight, and breezes would blow out of nowhere and ruffle the curtains or the sheets dangling off the mattress. Paranoia soon set in, and I knew that sleep might as well be forgotten.

However, for once, my nighttime anxiety proved to be somewhat valid, as no sooner had I got my mind to stop racing all over the place, than a _**big, ugly, black spider**_ suddenly materialized in the middle of the floor. Its body was the size of a quarter; its eight, needle-like legs were abnormally long and crooked in weird places. Though most spiders I've ever seen have eight eyes, this one only had two, and they bore a striking resemblance to our Halloween party crasher's. Ruby red and menacing.

It was hard not to scream bloody murder when it started creeping closer, its legs bending in unnatural ways as it walked. The spider almost seemed to limp, but didn't lean on a particular side, because both sides were uneven. I felt like I'd been sucked into a bad horror flick, and I was about to be the first casualty of the movie. Death by spider bite is _**not**_ how I want to go!

As I searched in vain to find something to squish the monstrous bug with, a voice like nails on a chalkboard hissed out from between the spider's pinchers, "_No Queen cahn save you now, Warriah girl…your butterfly wings will be brokahn like paper-theen glass. There is nowheah you cahn run. Marmoreal will fall sooner than you t'ink…its rock is already crumbling in my web._" Inky venom dripped from its fangs, staining the white carpet with little black droplets.

Despite the cryptic threat on the White Queen's domain, I was really more concerned with the possible availability and price of demon spider anti-venom at the nearest hospital. The odds of it being very affordable (_or even being there at all_) didn't look too great, so I figured that Marmoreal would be fine for the time being. In desperation, and for lack of a better weapon, I grabbed my pillow from under my head and cocked my arm back to throw it as hard as I could.

The spider lunged right as my fingers unclasped from around the pillowcase.

"_Alice?_" Mother Rose stirred me from my fitful pre-wedding day sleep. My nerves had been playing up all night, so I didn't get much rest before my big day. This had been the first night since I returned that Tarrant and I hadn't fallen asleep together, and thankfully it would be the last. No matter which way I had lain, it was very uncomfortable without him resting beside me, like there was a giant hole in the bed where the Hatter should've been.

His mother coaxed me out from under the sheets and handed me my housecoat as we made our way to the washroom, "Come along dear. We'll have you ready in no time, and your little friends from Overland should be here soon." She pushed down the pump and filled the small basin with water. I took a small cloth from the edge of the sink and soaked it for a moment, staring at our reflections in the mirror. In a few hours, Rosalynn would be my mother-in-law, and I would be a member of the Hightopp Clan, just like her and Luna and Zada. I would be married to the right man for me, and I couldn't be any happier.

She caught me smiling and squeezed my shoulder, "I dreamt of this day since Tarrant was a little boy…when he first met you, he came and told me and his father that he'd found a girl that he liked more than any other girl he knew. He wished that you had stayed then and there, and that he didn't care if you weren't from Underland." She chuckled recalling her son as a child, "We both knew that he'd found the girl he wanted to be with, and we're glad to know that he finally got you back."

Wringing the cloth out and rubbing the sleep from my face, I smiled broader, thinking of the very first tea party I'd been to with Tarrant, "I'm more than glad to be back with him. There's nothing else like it…" Hamish had been a far cry from my ideal husband, and no other suitor that had come to call after that could quite live up to my expectations. The reason behind that became evident in the moment when I opened my eyes in Underland again…

None of them were mad enough for me.

Only the Hatter could match my "muchness" with his madness.

"I can imagine. Men that aren't mad in some degree are notoriously bland and unimaginative." Rosalynn took a nearby brush and started attempting to untangle my curls just as Luna and Zada came in, one rolling the mannequin in with my dress on it and the other carrying a basket with my veil and several hairpins to hold it in. Mallymkun, Ezrabeth and Madalya followed close behind; two in dresses and one in a tunic and breeches.

"I guess that's why there's never a dull moment at our family's holiday parties…" Luna concurred with her aunt. Zada only rolled her eyes and smiled.

Curiosity struck me, "What sort of holidays do you have in Underland? I don't suppose I've ever been here during one…" one could only assume that the Frabjous Day was considered one, but surely there were more than that!

Luna made a few adjustments to the dress as she spoke, "Well, there's Shunder at the first of the year; that was the first day ever written on the Oraculum. Faldinal was when the Vorpal Sword was made… Weddings and birthdays always have big parties, and war victories too. There are seasonal festivals in each royal domain. Things like that." She finished, both talking and fixing the gown.

"What about in Overland?" Zada spoke quietly, smoothing out the long veil.

Christmas came to mind, and New Year's. Easter and Valentine's Day were thought of, as well as Thanksgiving. Another thought appeared to me while I was thinking on the subject; now that Underland is my home; I'll have to adjust to a whole new set of customs and traditions. Of course, Tarrant had enlightened me in the time between today and the day that I arrived, but was I really ready to live here and be apart of all of this?

I shook off the cold feet before they could take hold, reassuring myself that this is what I wanted for sure. Nothing was going to deter me from getting married today! Especially not myself.

"Say, I wonder where your friend Allyson could be? She's supposed to be here by now, isn't she?" Zada observed the younger Overlander's absence. It hadn't really struck me until she made note of it, "Should someone go and fetch her?"

Mother Rose was about to respond when the door swung open and Mirana poked her head in, "Good morning everyone! I trust we're all excited about this afternoon?" she glided in gracefully, as always, and admired the dress.

"So excited that I didn't get a wink of sleep last night." I yawned, thankful that corsets were not a fashion statement down here, otherwise I'm pretty sure I would have cracked a rib just then.

"Tarrant just came out of his room a moment ago and said the same thing." The White Queen stroked my hair gently, "But don't you fret dear, I'm sure you'll both get more rest when you're together again." Her dark eyes were happy, as I'm sure mine were, until she too noticed that one body was missing from the room.

"Have you seen Allyson this morning your highness? She hasn't come in yet."

Mirana looked puzzled, "Why no, I haven't today. Surely she isn't still asleep at this hour…I sent Absolem after her earlier and he hasn't returned." the sky had brightened significantly since I'd awoken, and I assumed that it was also daylight up top by now.

The atmosphere became a little tenser; something just didn't seem right. Allyson didn't seem like the type that would be late to something like a wedding.

"Perhaps we should send someone to check on her and the others…"

"Ilosovic?"

"Good heavens, no! If something did happen to her, he doesn't need to be the first to see it! Maybe the rest of her band knows where she is."

"No one's seen them either."

It was borderline panic when the door creaked open and Jasmin stepped inside, looking somewhat befuddled herself, "I tell you something…those young "music band" people haven't shown up yet! Not a single one of them has come through a Portal." She looked to any of us for answers to the selfsame problem that we all had. This didn't help to calm things down at all.

"You all wait here; I'll call for McTwisp to see what's going on up there." The Dormouse darted out the door and down the hall, calling out for the White Rabbit as she went.

Mirana ducked into the kitchen for a moment, and reappeared with a tray in hand, balancing several steaming cups of what looked like tea on it. She roused the children and handed them smaller glasses, and offered some to us as well. While the other women promptly began sipping theirs, I held mine in front of me for a moment, "Only if you promise not to tell me what's in this." The White Queen glanced up at me and chuckled, shaking her head.

"Not unless you ask."

After watching her make pishsavler, I don't see that happening at any point from here on out. Sometimes it's better not to know.

Mally squeezed underneath the door part of the way to declare that she'd sent the White Rabbit on his way through a Portal to check up on the remainder of our wedding party, and that he'd be back as fast as he could. Mirana then sent her out to inform the men that there would be a delay in the proceedings…hopefully a slight one.

However, we decided that it would be best to be ready when Allyson and her friends finally arrived, based on the assumption that they would all already be dressed by the time they got here.

When the last drop of her beverage had left her cup, Luna wasted no time in getting my gown on me and then wrestling the rest of the girls into theirs. Mallymkun presented a particular issue when she returned from running errands, being that she didn't wear dresses for a start, and the fact that she was armed with her hatpin the entire time that we were attempting to get one on her. It was no small victory when she was finally dressed, but she had to be threatened to be stuck in a teapot during the ceremony and the reception if she tried to change clothes.

I could tell her from experience that it wasn't a pleasant predicament to be in, so she finally stopped attempting to unbutton her bodice and instead pouted on a pincushion whilst awaiting the Wonderland Warriors entrance. Even through her grumpy veneer, we could tell she was worried about them too, despite any rows she'd had with Allyson.

"I do hope everything is alright with them…" she mumbled, as if someone had doubted that she cared.

"Mum? You don't think that they could've gotten stuck between the Portals, do you?" Mady looked to her mother with concern, mixed with the remnants of drowsiness.

No one answered, fearing that the fate of my fellow Overlanders was much worse than being trapped between worlds. Looking at our faces, one might think that we believed that they'd been taken out of the worlds altogether.

You know that feeling you get when you dream that you're falling, and then you suddenly jerk awake before you hit the ground? Well imagine that, add a case of heart pounding arachnophobia and waking up in a brightly lit room to ten other people, a rabbit and a butterfly hovering over you. Doesn't sound too wonderful does it?

Neither did the ear-shattering scream I let out upon opening my eyes to said sight.

"_**What?! **_What is it? What's going on?"

Matt uncovered his ears and replied, "We've been trying to wake you up for two hours. We thought something was wrong with you 'cause you wouldn't open your eyes."

Luke nearly crushed my ribcage in a hug, which I returned in a state of confusion, "Honey, I'm fine, I swear. I just…I can't really breathe right now…What are you talking about? It hasn't been two hours since we went to bed…_**has**_ it?"

They all nodded, indicating that they were all dressed and ready to leave for the wedding. It was already morning, and late in the morning at that, despite the fact that my body was telling me that it should still be dark out. How it was possible for this to be, I wasn't sure, but one way or another, I was going to get to the bottom of it!

"When the rest of us woke up, you were talking in your sleep and thrashing around." Maccay peered over Matt's shoulder, "You were pouring sweat too." Tony nodded in agreement.

"You almost hit me a few times. That's what woke me up."

"Sorry C'Lee."

Absolem landed on my knee, his wings fluttering slightly, "I was sent to retrieve you all to prepare for the wedding, but you were out cold and nothing any of us did woke you." He informed me, "McTwisp was sent after me, therefore I am assuming that the others have noticed your absence."

A cold chill raced down my spine, sending shivers in waves through my limbs, and I could feel the sweat that coated my skin. Only one thought pulsed through my mind as I was helped to my feet so that I could go and get dressed…

What if I hadn't woken up?

You could tear the tension in the washroom out of the air with your bare hands by the time the White Rabbit bounded through the throne room's Portal with the Warriors and Absolem in tow. I don't think I'd ever been so relieved to see Allyson in all time that I'd known her!

The Butterfly and McTwisp rounded up the four boys, as soon as they were all accounted for, and escorted to them to where the other men waited to begin the procession. Luke, the one with pale green eyes who was courting Allyson, was hesitant to leave her side despite her many attempts to shoo him. Matt finally had to put an arm around his shoulders and pull him out of the room so he wouldn't follow her into the dressing area. She had tried to assure him that nothing was wrong, but the worried look on his face suggested that he didn't fully believe her.

As she turned around, I could see his cause for concern; the poor girl looked like she'd had ten years scared off of her life! Her makeup could scarcely hide the dark rings under her eyes and her paper-white skin. She looked exhausted, but she kept smiling as she trudged over to us with her friends.

"Sorry we're late; my subconscious decided that my personal Dreamland didn't have enough gut-wrenching terror in it, so it attacked me with a freaky spider. I don't guess a bad dream qualifies as '_fashionably late_', does it?"

We embraced for a moment, her drowsiness evident in how lightly she hugged back, "Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you're alright. You all had us worried for a bit there!"

All of them admitted that they were more concerned about us, claiming the nightmare had given them a dreadful feeling that something was going on down here. Apparently Absolem and McTwisp's presence hadn't helped to calm Allyson's terror, and had instead scared her even more, "I thought they had come to tell us there was no way to come back down here or that something else was wrong…it took them forever to convince me otherwise."

"Be glad you were wrong. If the Portal hadn't held up, you'd be stuck with both of them for awhile." Mally teased her, both making sure the two creatures under fire weren't within earshot. Allyson shuddered at the thought of Absolem becoming her housemate, and theorized that McTwisp wouldn't be a wise replacement for her alarm clock. We all concurred.

As the laughing subsided, the grandfather clock in the hallway chimed; the signal that it was time to head for the carriage that would carry the party to the altar.

Much to my surprise, the Dormouse asked me to carry her to the carriage rather than scampering after the rest of the procession, insisting that she wanted to speak with me on the way to the wedding. She stepped into the palm of my hand as I held it out to her and then perched herself on my shoulder, her tiny paws resting against my bare skin. Had the front of my veil been down, she would've been underneath it.

"Alice?" she began quietly, for the first time that I knew of, "I'm sorry about how I behaved towards you last time. I reckon I was just jealous is all…since the Hatter liked you so much an' all." Her eyes were averted to the seat below me, only connecting with mine briefly.

"Oh Mally, there's no need to apologize! I'm not mad at all."

She glanced up skeptically, a grin forming on her muzzle, "You sure about that? You do know you're marrying the _**Mad**_ Hatter, don't you?" she chuckled.

Returning her smile, I winked, "Well, perhaps in _**that**_ sense I am a little bonkers."

"Totally barmy?"

"Completely of my rocker."

Satisfied, she crisscrossed her legs under the skirt as the wagon started out of the courtyard (_a gesture most improper by Overland standards; not that I cared_.) and nodded matter-of-factly, "Good. If you weren't, you'd really be getting yourself into something."

Just as I was forming a response, a scene up ahead of the buggy stopped me short of speaking…on either side of the road, what seemed like a hundred women and girls dressed in furs and pelts stood, watching us intently as we approached. Their skin was different shades of copper, aside from the black spirals that wound around their arms and bare bellies. Some of the older ones had them around their eyes too, with little loops and curlicues curving down their cheeks or across their foreheads. They were a strange and beautiful sight, like much of the rest of this land, and I wasn't sure what to say.

Luckily for my tied tongue, their leader, with tattoos covering so much of her skin that there was almost none of her natural tone left, spoke to break the stunned silence, "Hello your majesty, I trust dat everyt'ing is well dis morning?" her dress was different from the others, as it appeared to be made of cloth rather than the skin of some animal or bird. She wore a crown that seemed to stem from one of her marks; dark and curling into ringlets atop her head. Her grey eyes studied the traveling party.

"Ah, there you are Allura! I was beginning to wonder where we'd find you." The White Queen greeted the mysterious woman happily, and then turned to beckon to me, "Alice, this is the Witch Queen of the Outlands. Allura, this is Alice, the girl from Overland I told you about in the letter."

Allura bowed her head in greeting to me, a kind smile stretching across her lips, "We meet at last, Warriah."

As usual, I was astounded by how quickly news traveled down here, "You've heard of me? About the Frabjous Day?"

She nodded, "Mirana's dominion was not de only one to suffah from her sista's rule…we ahre all greeatful to you for slaying dat terrible creacha." Her grin widened once more, "It's too bad dat you 'ad to return home so soon; you missed quite a bit of celebration…in all de kingdoms, and in our clan."

"I wanted to stay then…" I sighed heavily, "but I had some things to take care of at home."

"Dat is undahstandable, Alice. One must finish one quest before beginning anotha." She motioned for some of her fellow Outlanders to assign themselves to a carriage in our caravan, "Speaking of which, we'd bettah get ahn wit' dis one. De Hatter is expecting you, dear chil'."

Allura turned and took a place in front of the horses on my carriage, walking only a few steps ahead of their hooves, her cane dragging through the dirt and leaving what looked like droplets of pastel colored water in her path. Little sparks flew from the drops like fireworks.

"What _is_ that, Mirana?" Allyson leaned over the rails to watch the little curlicues spread across the ground and vanish in little puffs of smoke. The other Outlanders were leaving the little marks as well, though in their cases the drops were coming from beads that wound around their arms and ankles rather than canes.

"It's magic…for protection and good fortune. 'Tis traditional for the Tribe to be present at weddings to bless the ceremony." The White Queen replied, smoothing her dress, "Allura's brother will be the one to read you your vows, Alice, as he is one of the few who have the power to perform the binding spell." She went on to elaborate that Absolem could've done it, but with the activity around the Portals prior to my arrival still not completely resolved, he didn't want to risk leaving them in someone else's hands should something else come up. Though he would be present at the ceremony, his magical power would be focused elsewhere.

"His _mind_ probably will be too." Allyson remarked, "He's giving up smoking for the occasion. You should feel special Alice, that literally only happens in events of extreme importance." She winked.

And despite her joking tone, I really did feel a twinge of pride that he'd (_briefly_) given all of us a respite from that horrid smoke just for my wedding. He must like me more than I thought…

"_Tarrant_ _Hightopp_, if you don't leave that tie alone, Luna will wring your neck with it! If she sees one hair out of place on you _**or**_Alice we'll have to stall the whole wedding; _cut_ _it_ _out_!" for the millionth time since we arrived in New Witzend, a village built only a mile from the original town, I scolded the Hatter for picking at his clothes. First it had been the hem of his kilt, and then he readjusted his hat so many times before taking it off that I lost count, now he was tightening and loosening his tie repeatedly. His father had threatened to _**sit**_ on him to make him stop, but he hadn't registered the warning.

Christian and I shared the concern that he was going to wear out the soles of his shoes pacing back and forth in front of the seating area. The rest of us were standing around in the general area we needed to be in for the ceremony or, in my case, lounging in the front row, while he flattened the grass.

"I'm sorry I…I'm just nervous is all…"

"About _**what**_? If something is dumb enough to come anywhere _**near**_here with the Outlanders hanging about, then it's not going to get a very warm welcome." Samuel tried to reassured his son, but to no avail. He started worrying at his cuff links.

"Not about demons and whatnot _**here**_…just…I-"

"Surely you can't mean _Alice_ is what you're worried about?!" our group passed incredulous glances to each other and to the groom-to-be, but his eyes fell to the ground.

"Worried something will happen to her before she gets here…" he muttered, "We don't know what we're up against; who knows if the Outlanders can handle what we've set on their shoulders?"

Though he wasn't wrong there, I saw no reason to fret so terribly over it this close to the ceremony. There would literally be thousands of the magically-endowed tribesmen and women surrounding the meadow, so surely all of their combined powers would keep us safe from anything or anybody that had the foolish notion to try and crash this wedding.

Danzia's hulking presence behind the altar was the most reassuring aspect, as his sheer size would be enough to deter anything with good sense, not to mention King Braden's additional strength and King Sunyi's knowledge of the combative arts. Christian was a highly-trained monster wrangler in Nidaria, which would also come in handy. Tarrant and Samuel could both take care of themselves, as could my father. Luke had brought up the topic of swordplay at some point or other; he could handle a weapon should he need to. Matt had mentioned his recent victory in a wrestling match at their school (_I didn't know they had things like that at __**schools**__ of all places…Overland certainly is strange…_). Sam said he was a rather good shot with a bow, and Tony promised that he would stay out of the way if battle ensued. I would've added myself and Elias to that line up, but Allyson's "_you're joking, right?_" face popped into my head when the thought occurred to me, due to the fact that I couldn't even defeat _**her**_ on one of my good days, and the fact that Eli was in fact, still a child (_Mome Rath slaying aside_). Remy, I discovered, was easily spooked, so he was out too.

We aren't relying on Thorne for anything. I was shocked he even bothered to show up.

I really wish he hadn't. He was such a pain…thankfully, he was too busy harassing some of the Outlanders –though they weren't really giving him much of a reaction- to notice the rest of us.

On the other hand, he wasn't absorbed enough in troubling them to be deaf to the distant shrieks that suddenly rang in our ears, though he wasn't in the number that raced from the dais to investigate.

It had happened so quickly that I almost didn't have time to react; the sky overhead darkened, the air got heavy and cold, and a dead silence swept around us. The Outlanders started yelling out in their native language (_remember Tarrant's foulmouthedness in my previous misadventure?_) and balls of multicolored light formed in their palms. By the time my hand gripped one of the weapons concealed in the carriage, one of the younger girls had shot down a bird-like creature that landed on the other side of the buggy with a stomach-turning liquid sound. It soon dissolved into a black puddle that singed the grass and trees that it touched, and a sharp, bitter smell wafted to us on the chilling wind.

Amid the chaos of the skirmish, Allura and a younger girl leapt onto the driver's seat of the wagon and cracked the reigns, jolting us forward. Other Outlanders followed suit, taking over the ones behind us. Those that didn't commandeer a vehicle were left to fend off our attackers, and were doing a _**fan**__freaking__**tastic**_ job the last time I turned to watch.

The rest of us were too stunned and afraid to do much of anything but cower in our seats.

Fortunately, we didn't have much further to go before we reached the site, and the rest of the Outlanders ran out to greet us before long. While they sailed by in a tattooed mass without a second glance, the boys that belonged to us swarmed around their wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters, and as soon as we were behind the line of warriors, they practically grabbed us out of the carriages and pulled us into the protected clearing. A shield had been placed around the new village to prevent tragedies like the Horunvendush Day, but that didn't seem to discourage the few demons that successfully swooped past the small army of light-wielding witches and shamans.

I almost started laughing when the first one smacked into the invisible wall, splattering like a bug on a windshield. However, all humor ceased when cracks became visible and their ungodly wailing pierced the buffer as more of them slammed into its surface.

"They're…they're trying to break through it…" Ilosovic breathed.

"What're we gonna do? We can't fight those things!" C'Lee held a saber shakily, the tip of the sword dragging the ground. Lucy couldn't steady her sister's hand for her own shivering so violently.

"No need." A voice that rumbled like thunder said from behind us, just as a brilliant beam of light shot over us and spread into a dome, instantly repelling any remaining monsters and melting those that couldn't escape. We whirled around to be faced with the Shaman King looming over us, his enormous hand still glowing from the spell he cast. Someone's sword clattered to the ground as we stared in awe of our rescuer, though no one looked to see whose it was.

The shield faded from our vision, though in reality it did not disappear, and no more demons attempted to penetrate it. And after a few tense moments, the last of the creatures were struck down just out of sight of the meadow, and the war party returned victorious…though most of them were covered in black goop that smelled like bleach mixed with salt & vinegar chips and peroxide.

"We didn't lose any of ours, brodah. Dese werh not powahful bein's…" Allura had quickly counted heads, though I don't see how that was possible with their numbers.

"But dey ahre cahntrolled by one…creacha's like dis do not act on deir own." Danzia noted a gelatinous pile around the rim of the shield, "After dis ceremony, we must find whoeva is responsible."

"Agreed."

The two of them then turned to the other Underlanders and the rest of us, and informed everyone that the wedding would soon commence.

After all the hubbub finally died down, all the dresses were smoothed out and the tuxes were rebuttoned properly, we pried Tarrant and Alice apart just long enough to get him to the other end of the aisle with his mother and the Shaman King and Witch Queen.

The groomsmen and bridesmaids fell in line like soldiers behind Ilosovic and me as we marched to meet them, taking our respective places on the left or right of the altar. Although I knew we weren't the main focus of attention today, I was still trembling slightly when eyes fell on me from the crowd. This was the first wedding I had been old enough to remember being in; all others I had attended had been when I was very small, and I was nervous that my smile looked fake, or that I wasn't in-step with Stayne, or that-

"_Allyson, relax. You're doing just fine._" Absolem fluttered by on his way to his seat behind where Danzia and Allura stood. Being Guardian of the Oraculum got you "floor seats", if you will, to things like the biggest wedding anyone had seen in centuries.

I silently thanked him, and then turned frontwards to get a better look at Alice's dress. There was a collective intake of breath when everyone's jaw dropped to the ground; the shimmering train extended a good three feet behind her in a silver waterfall, her bodice hugged her tightly like the suit of armor it was modeled after, and her veil was held in place by a bejeweled tiara in the shape of a butterfly (_I'm sure Absolem loved that bit._)

"_Whoa_…" I sighed, "_her gown is amazing_…"

"_Thank you. It took hours to sew_."

Turning to my right, I saw who the voice belonged to. It was one I had been hearing off and on all afternoon, but hadn't seen the face that it was connected to until just now, though she needn't any introduction. I must admit the bridesmaid dress that I had sewn for her fit better than I had thought, given that we didn't have a chance to get together and make personal adjustments. But judging by her tailoring on the wedding dress, I was pretty confident that she didn't need my help with that…

"_If I thought it wouldn't have been too much trouble, I would've let you do ours too. At least maybe they would've matched hers_…"

Luna smiled, "_Nonsense, your dresses are wonderful. I adore these gloves you made too._" Actually, Amber had made the accessories, both those that were attached to the dresses and those that weren't. Her hands were smaller than mine were (_which is saying a lot; my hands are tiny_) so the little details were easier for her to handle.

"_Thanks. What do you think about the suits?_" I nudged her with my elbow and cut my eyes over to Ilosovic, who was completely oblivious to the two of us. Since gawking at Stayne was more for her benefit, I gazed past him to Luke, who winked and smiled back.

"_Very handsome indeed._"

"_Indeed_."

We giggled behind our hands until Samuel and Alice stopped a few feet away, and the ceremony officially began. Ilosovic overheard our snickering, but any comeback he had formulated was cut off by Danzia's voice resounding all around us. He was spared anymore "girl talk" by this and this alone.

"Who gives dis womahn awey to be wed?" his golden eyes scanned over the bride-to-be and her father in law, taking in all the happiness radiating off of them.

"I do, in her father's stead." Samuel passed her off to his son, who was more than eager to have Alice at his side again after our minor calamity between here and Marmoreal. Her smile faltered a bit at the mention of her father, but the sadness was gone as quickly as it came when she stood next to the Hatter.

Mr. Hightopp walked briskly to his seat where Rosalynn was waiting, alongside Alexander and Jasmin. Tarrant's mother and father beamed proudly at their only child, while Ilosovic's parents made facial expressions towards theirs that suggested that they thought he should be next in line for engagement. His cheeks flushed bright pink when he caught Luna batting her eyelashes at him, and his eyes narrowed at my innocent smirk. He was outnumbered and he knew it.

Anyhow, back to the matter at hand…

Danzia reached back to a small table and unfolded what looked like a navy blue blanket, revealing the Vorpal Sword. His thick hands encircled the hilt as he placed it in between the bride and groom, "Alice, place your 'ands on de handle." He instructed her, only leaving his finger touching the sword to keep it upright.

The second her skin connected with the sword, the same sparks the Outlanders had been firing off encircled her, forming one half of an arch above her and wrapping themselves around her arms and the blade. A few people in the crowd jumped back from the flash, but most only shielded their eyes against its brightness. Alice herself marveled at the pastel colored lights.

"Tarrant, place your 'ands on hers."

His hands wrapped around her fingers, sending a shower of sparks around him that completed the arch that encircled the two. The ribbons of light around their arms and the sword began to swirl and intertwine, drawing them closer together as the Outlands' king released his grip on the Vorpal Sword.

"If anybody 'ere objects to dis wedding, speak now before de vows ahre read." Allura, who had been standing on the other side of them, said. Everyone silently held their breath, waiting for someone to pipe up and say something. An objection to this marriage would almost definitely cause riots in the streets!

After an incredibly long and tense silence, the Shaman King continued with the ceremony, "Very well." He turned to Tarrant, "Do you swear on dis blessed sword that you take dis womahn to be your wife? Dat you will love her and no otha as long as you live? No matter what befalls you or her?"

He looked at the priest like he'd just asked him if his last name was Hightopp, but he answered nonetheless, "Of course I do."

Danzia nodded, and one of the Tweedles approached with a pillow, bearing one ring, "Take her left 'and, and remove de engagement ring. Replace it wit de wedding band."

As he removed the bejeweled ring from her finger and replaced it with a silver one in the image of a dragon clutching a blue gem, the swirls of lights on his side converged on the new ring and seemed to vanish inside of it as it settled against her skin. None appeared above him to replace them, and hers remained as they were.

"Now Alice, do _**you**_ swear on this blessed sword that you will take dis mahn as your 'usband? Dat you will love 'im and no otha as long as you live? No matter what befalls you or 'im?" Allura read her her vows.

With a single tear of joy rolling down her cheek, Alice smiled, "Yes, I do."

"Take 'is right 'and, and remove 'is engagement ring. Replace it wit de wedding band."

The second Tweedle came forth, carrying another ring that resembled a bronze sword encrusted with jade. Alice's lights followed the ring as she slipped it onto his hand, significantly dimming the intensity of the light in the clearing. It was much easier to see them now, and to see in general.

At last, the priest and priestess spoke the words that everyone had been waiting for in unison, "By de powah of de Vorpal Blade, ye be wed! You may kiss de bride now, Hattah."

They didn't have to tell him twice.

The reception lasted well into the evening, with much dancing, plenty of food, and not to mention the gifts the newlyweds got!

Each kingdom or queendom presented the couple with presents; Mirana gave them the Vorpal Sword (_since_ _a replacement could be made very easily_), Queen Rubi had two cloaks made that were pretty-much-anything-proof and could camouflage themselves if need be (_and were __**incredibly**__ soft on the inside_), King Braden got sort of carried away…he gave them both a pair of beautiful horses and _**all**_ kinds of furniture (_Tarrant's place __**was**__ a bachelor pad, after all. It needed a more lady-friendly touch here and there…_) and King Sunyi hand-picked their carriage himself, and had his own servants pack their luggage for the honeymoon.

The Outlanders had sent a party out to their house to bless it with charms and spells to keep any demons out and to expel any already present. Danzia and Allura individually presented them with with two medallions, as is apparently traditional, for good luck and prosperity in their new life.

Tarrant's family also pitched in with gifts of their own; Luna sewed Alice a sun dress to match her bathing suit, Samuel (_being a hatter himself_) gave her a hat to keep the sun off her head while they were swimming in the Frill River or taking an afternoon stroll, Rosalynn made a patchwork quilt out of swatches of fabric that everyone had contributed (_the Wonderland Warriors' collective patch was black with rainbow music notes on it, so it kind of stuck out from the others…_) and Christian had been generous enough to provide the actual cabin for their honeymoon.

It was a little cottage that he and Zada had vacationed in for many summers, and they thought it was perfect for a romantic rendezvous. Tarrant and Alice seemed to agree.

My gift would come later, as soon as I got all the pictures from my camera onto my laptop and printed them out for the scrapbook I was planning to make. I wanted Alice and the Hatter to remember this day in as vivid of detail as possible, and the best way to insure that they would was by photographically preserving it and adding frilly stickers to the pages. Mind you I had to turn the flash off so as not to startle anyone…I doubted that she wanted any bewildered party guests in her wedding album. Or, in my case, any that looked like they were about to collapse from having too much fun.

After about the sixth quadrille of the night, I couldn't feel my legs properly and decided to find myself a tree to relax under for a while. The trunk wasn't too knobby or rough, so I reclined against it and watched the festivities while trying to hold my eyes open. Sleep was fast-approaching, but I didn't want to tear the others away from the party to go home just yet.

This was the best we had all felt since Halloween, and that was quite some time ago.

Just as I was about to relent and "rest my eyes", a voice popped into my ears from my left side, "Mind if I join you?" Luna spread her skirt onto the ground around her and leaned against the other side of the tree.

"As long as you keep me from nodding off…how are you not half asleep?" I yawned.

"Living in Snud as long as I have has prepared me for parties like this. Sunyi is known for dances and galas that last for weeks at a time, and he invites the entire kingdom to all of them." Her silver eyes showed no trace of exhaustion, her smile was no less bright than it was at the beginning of the ceremony.

The King of Clubs sauntered by a few feet away, chatting energetically with Queen Rubi, who looked as though she was about to fall over. He didn't seem like much of a party animal at first glance, but seeing as how only he and the residents of his realm were able to continue dancing like it was going out of style after nearly nine hours, I guess my hypothesis was incorrect…

"Maybe if I hadn't eaten so much I'd be able to stay standing for more than five minutes at at time." I chuckled, patting my belly. More food had piled into my stomach than on the night Alice returned; it was filled to bursting nearly.

"Possibly. Say, isn't that Uncle Sam over there-" she stopped mid-sentence, her mouth gaping open, "He got into the ale again." She groaned.

Searching the crowd for the father of the groom, my eyes fell on Mr. Hightopp attempting to scale the maypole for some reason, and loudly proclaiming that "That bloody White Knave couldn't touch the top of it if he tried!"

Judging by the slightly amused look on Alexander's face, Samuel was referring to him rather than Ilosovic, who was standing at the base of the pole shaking his head and laughing alongside his father. It was hard to tell if one of them had instigated this situation or if they were innocent bystanders, but Mother Rose didn't care either way. She was scolding all three at the same time and doing her best to coax her husband back down, neither of said actions bringing about any noticeable changes.

"Should we go help?"

Luna scoffed, "What good would that do? If he won't come down for her, he won't listen to either of us."

Now Tarrant was trying to persuade his father to come down, which also was accomplishing nothing. Christian threatened to cut the thing down if Samuel didn't return his feet to the soil, which only stirred up a torrent of Outlandish from the older Hightopp.

Fortunately, the majority of the young children had been sent into the houses to sleep until it was time to leave, so none of them heard the string of profanity. Any of the older ones that did were told that if they repeated so much as one word of that sentence that they would have their mouths washed out…_**vigorously**_.

"They may have to call the soliders to get him off of it."

"I don't suppose a King or a Queen would do the trick?"

"Not likely, but _somebody_ needs to before the pole breaks."

I was beginning to wonder if we needed to fetch the Bandersnatch to push the beam over enough where someone could grab him, but suddenly Alice was standing beneath her father-in-law, and he seemed to be listening intently to what she was saying. She beckoned for him to come down to her, as she and Tarrant were preparing to leave for their house for the night, so that they could tell him goodbye.

After contemplating this for a moment, he slowly began his descent, and landed somewhat unsteadily in front of her. Everyone around the pole breathed a sigh of relief, while everyone else who had been watching looked on in disbelief.

"Hmm, she _**is**_rather resourceful, isn't she? _Clever_ little thing." Thorne suddenly appeared to my right, twirling a glass of the notorious Nidarian ale between his fingers.

"Do you have some kind of tracking device on me or something? Can't you go hassle somebody else for a change?" I cut my eyes at the Knight to find him grinning down at me deviously.

"I beg your pardon, dear girl, I didn't mean to intrude but…Absolem wanted to tell you that he spoke with Stayne, and he mentioned that necklace to him that you wanted checked out and he's gone to get it." He stated his business and then produced another cup of ale from behind his back, "Care for a drink?"

"You keep hanging around and you might drive me to it."

"Suit yourself." He set the drink on the ground beside me and continued, "He also said he should be back before you all leave, but that he might go home through a different Glass, so if he doesn't see you before you return to Overland he bids you good night and fairfarren, Allyson." The way my name crawled from his mouth made me shiver.

"Well if he wanted to tell me all this, why didn't he tell me himself? Or why didn't Ilosovic come tell me?"

Thorne began to amble away, walking backwards as he spoke, "He was in a terrible hurry to get there and back, so he didn't have time to speak with you at the moment. Stayne couldn't find you earlier, so I took it upon myself to relay the message if I saw you first." He sneered before turning away and disappearing into the crowd, "Good night, ladies."

Luna looked like she wanted to spit on him just for speaking to us, "I do wish that man would take a long walk off a short pier." She snarled.

"I'd prefer it if he took a flying leap."

She stood and helped me to my feet, and we began flouncing over to the rest of our friends together, "Wait, you aren't going to drink that, are you?" we paused momentarily, eyeing the goblet of green liquid Thorne had given me. I took it into my hand and tipped it over, spilling its contents into the grass.

"Drink what?" I said. She nodded. We pressed on.

Neither of us noticed the wilting grass as we were leaving.

"Thank you for having us, Alice. The wedding was beautiful!" I had managed to round up the Warriors a little before midnight so we could congradulate the newlyweds and get home before the sun came up. However, we had been in the process of leaving for nearly thirty minutes…

"I'm so happy you all could make it!" we hugged tightly, at which time she whispered, "_Don't forget to invite me to yours someday._"

My face was flushed when I pulled away, but we were both smiling, "You'll be one of the first to know."

We bid each other adieu, but before I dragged my fellow band members through the Portal into my bathroom, I tugged Ilosovic aside as though I was telling him goodbye, "Hey, did you talk to Absolem earlier? About the necklace?" I asked him in a low voice so that the others wouldn't overhear.

His eyebrows knitted together in confusion and he nodded slowly like he didn't understand the question, "I've been trying to find you all night to tell you that. How'd you find out?"

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed Stayne by the elbow and tugged him down to my level, "_Thorne_ apparently overheard you and he came and told me about it. _**Please**_tell me you two weren't talking about anything _**else**_ important. I don't want that know-it-all to actually know it all."

He shook his head vigorously, "No, not at all. I saw Thorne right after I said that and I clammed up until he left. It didn't dawn on me that he would've heard that…" he ran his fingers through his hair, releasing some of it from the ribbon that had tied it back all day.

"Alright, as long as his nosy ears didn't hear anything else that was none of his business…has Absolem come back yet?" I had it in my right mind to tell the Butterfly about a certain someone's eavesdroping problem, and to make a suggestion as to a solution.

He shrugged, "He told me that he'd be going back to the Mushroom Forest when he did."

"Ok…just wanted to make sure Thorne wasn't trying to pull something on me." We rejoined the group at the entrance to the Portal into Overland, "That crazy nut tried to give me something to drink too; can you _believe_ him?!" I added, almost as an afterthought, as I hugged him around the neck and snickered.

"You didn't drink any, _did_ you?"

"You're _joking_ right? Even if it were _**you**_with that look on your face, I wouldn't have drunk any!"

We both laughed, embracing one last time. My only wish was that time didn't pass so strangely between our worlds; I missed so many things while I was at home. It was nearly impossible to not worry about whether I'd see some of these people again…especially nowadays….

"Bye guys! Stay in touch!" we all called out as McTwisp guided us through the Looking-Glass, hand-in-hand (_or hand-in-paw, in Matt's case, since he was up front_). The Underlanders waved back with hands, hats and handkerchiefs, their worried eyes watching us disappear into the mirror.

They feared for us just like we feared for them.

And we all had reason to be afraid of the shadows, scared of the dark, terrified of unknown beings that go bump in the night, and even moreso of the ones that were brazen enough to come out during the daylight.

But the simple term _'fear'_ did not quite cover the pure horror that washed over us when we opened the door into my bedroom. No word in any dictionary could, if I were to be honest.

The room was a wreck, as though a malicious tornado had spawned in its center and torn everything from the walls and shelves. Not one thing was intact.

Except, that is, for those few objects that lay in the middle of the floor.

My hat that Tarrant made for me, Ilosovic's black and red cape, a deck of cards (_save for the Jack of Diamonds and the Queen of Hearts, which I found laying on my vanity side by side, covered in black eyeliner streaks_) and a picture of the band were all neatly arranged in a circle, untouched by whatever had destroyed my room.

In the center of the ring sat a baby doll with black hair and brilliant red eyes. Her dress was solid grey; no lace, no buttons, no puffy sleeves. She was as white as paper, and her lips, turned up in an almost skeletal grin, were almost as scarlet as her irises.

I screamed at the top of my lungs and fainted after my eyes took in another sight, and didn't remember what I saw afterwards, but when I asked everyone else what I saw that made me black out, all they would tell me was that Absolem was laying in the doll's lap.

When she thought no one was listening, Amber added more details to the scene that I almost wish she'd left out. She immediately apologized for even bringing it up when I started crying and fell against the wall, but I didn't hear it. All I could hear was the nightmare-spider's warning ringing in my ears…

His wings were broken and he wasn't moving.


End file.
